We Belong Together Brucas Edition
by friandise
Summary: Lucas and Jake are brothers. Lucas has been in love with Brooke since he met her. Brooke is best friends with Jake and hates Lucas. Can Lucas, their parents, and Jake convince Brooke that she is meant to be with Lucas? Goes with Naley story. Chapter FIVE!
1. Prologue

**I'm borrowing Lorelei and Christopher from Gilmore Girls. They're the same from Gilmore Girls (Lorelei got pregnant at 16, ran away from home, Christopher is trying to find himself and is not fully there for Lorelei and their daughter Brooke.) There's no Luke, Stars Hollow, or Rory in my story. Brooke is their daughter. This story goes with the Naley story with the same name. Later on when the Tree Hillers meet these characters, the story will merge into one.**

_**Prologue: Princess Brooke Penelope Davis**_

Four-year-old Brooke Davis smiled when she saw where her mom had taken her. It was a sunny afternoon and Brooke had just finished her first day of pre-school.

"The beach?!" Brooke squealed with delight.

"Of course. You were such a good girl today and it's so nice out," Lorelei Davis replied. Brooke was Lorelei's pride and joy. Although it wasn't an ideal pregnancy, Lorelei being 16 and all, she couldn't imagine her life without Brooke. The bright eyed, energetic little girl with the cutest dimpled smile was Lorelei's world.

"Did you like school?" Lorelei asked as she looked for a parking space.

"It was alright. There were lots and lots of kids there. I drawed, and played blocks and stuffs," Brooke answered looking towards the ocean.

"Did you make any new friends?"

"Well, we all sat in a circle and the teacher made us say our names, but I didn't remember nobody's name."

Lorelei chuckled. "I'm sure you'll get to know everyone soon."

Lorelei parked her car and went to un-strap her daughter from the car seat. She grabbed Brooke's hand and headed for the beach.

"Mommy, can I go make a sandcastle?"

"Sure sweetie, but what are the rules?"

"Don't talk to strangers and if someone tries to grab me scream as loud as I can," Brooke recited with ease.

"That's my girl," Lorelei beamed. "I'm going to be right here, don't go to far ok?"

Brooke nodded and skipped a few feet away from her mom. She anxiously began stuffing sand into her pail.

Lorelei watched her daughter play, thinking about their situation. Brooke's father, Christopher Hayden, had proposed to her after she delivered Brooke, but Lorelei wasn't ready, and she was fairly certain that Christopher wasn't ready either. They lived in a society where pregnant teenagers were not allowed and that informal arranged marriages were a must. Lorelei and Christopher's parents had hoped that one day they would be married, and although the news of the pregnancy did come as a shock, both sets of parents found solace in the fact that at least Lorelei was pregnant with Christopher's child. Lorelei ran away from her parents home almost a year after Brooke was born and three years later she never looked back.

Times were hard for the first couple of years, but somehow Lorelei managed to build a stable environment for Brooke to grow up in, without the comfort of her parents money. She kept in contact with Christopher and he spent the major holidays with them. Lorelei had a strained relationship with her parents, but lately they had been civil to each other. She had recently begun taking Brooke to visit her parents once a month.

Lorelei was lost in her thoughts and didn't notice a man sit next to her.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" The man asked.

"No, no go ahead."

Lorelei look towards Brooke and noticed that there was a little boy standing by her, while Brooke ignored him. Brooke looked up to her mom and Lorelei nodded as if to say 'you can talk to him'.

"Is she your daughter?" The man asked.

"Yeah." Lorelei smiled.

"She's beautiful."

"Thanks. I'm Lorelei Davis," Lorelei introduced herself and stuck out her hand.

"Keith. Keith Jaglieski."

"Hi," Jake Jaglieski greeted. He was here with his dad, Keith, and noticed the pretty little girl playing by herself. He too was playing by himself and went to her with the intention of playing together.

Brooke ignored the boy standing by her and continued to unsuccessfully build her castle. She'd been stuffing sand into her pail as a mold, but it would collapse as soon as she removed the pail.

"The sand needs to be wet if you want it to stand up. That's what my dad always taught me when we built sand castles," Jake informed.

Brooke looked up to the boy for the first time, and then looked to her mom. Her mom nodded her head and Brooke finally spoke to the boy in front of her.

"I'm Princess Brooke Penelope Davis."

"You're a princess?" Jake asked in amazement.

"Uh-huh." Brooke nodded her head. "My dad says I'm a princess and he calls me princess."

"Wow."

"What's your name?" Brooke asked.

"My name's Jacob Alexander Jaglieski, but you can call me Jake. Only my dad calls me Jacob Alexander Jaglieski when he's mad at me."

"Oh. My mom calls me Penelope when she's mad at me. I only see my dad sometimes," Brooke said sadly. She was a daddy's girl, and every time Christopher would visited her she would hope and pray that he wouldn't leave.

"I don't have a mom," Jake informed sadly.

"Everybody gotsa mom."

Jake just shrugged his shoulders. "What do moms do?"

"Well," Brooke began. "They do everything that dads do. They take you to the park, and buy you ice cream, and pick you up from pre-school."

"Well, Karen sometimes picks me up from kindergarten, and buys me ice cream, and she takes me to the park."

"Then Karen's your mom!" Brooke said excitedly. "Wait, what's kindergarten?"

Jake smiled. He was glad that Karen was his mom. "Kindergarten is where big kids get to go where they learn all kindsa stuff. I used to go to pre-school but then I got too big."

"How old are you?" Brooke asked.

"I'm this many," Jake said showing her five fingers.

"Oh, I'm only this many." Brooke sighed showing Jake four fingers.

"C'mon, let's go see if we can get water so our sandcastle will stand up." Jake grabbed Brooke's hand and trotted to where Lorelei and Keith were.

"Daddy," Jake said to Keith. "Can we have some water for our sandcastle?"

"Sure kiddo. But first, who's your friend?" Keith asked looking to Brooke.

"Oh, this is Princess Brooke Penelope Davis. She's my new friend."

"Wow." Keith smiled impressed. "A real princess?"

Brooke nodded and smiled shyly.

"I'm Keith," he introduced herself to Brooke.

"Hi Keith. That's my mommy," Brooke said pointing to Lorelei.

"Oh, we're old friends. And who's this handsome little boy?" Lorelei asked as she ruffled Jake's curly hair as he blushed.

"This is my new friend Jacob Alexander Jaglieski," Brooke informed.

"Well, here's some water," Lorelei said as she gave the kids a water bottle each. "Go build your sandcastle."

Brooke grabbed Jake's hand and skipped off to where she left her pail.

"You're son's adorable."

"Lorelei, you seem like a really nice lady and all, but I have a girlfriend, who I love."

Lorelei tried to hold her laughter in, but she couldn't. She burst out laughing. "I'm sorry," she apologized as she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. "I wasn't hitting on you."

Keith chuckled uncomfortably. "I know," he scoffed.

Lorelei continued to laugh. "Jake is very adorable."

"Sorry, I just… every time I come here with Jake women always say he's adorable before they hit on me and I just thought, you know," Keith explained.

"No harm done." Lorelei's laughter died down. "So girlfriend huh?"

"Yup," Keith said with a smile.

"Jake, do you want to be my best friend?" Brooke asked as they built their castle.

"Sure!" Jake nodded excitedly. He never had a best friend before.

Brooke smiled back. "That means that you're a prince because I'm a princess."

"Ok!"

"Brooke," Lorelei called out. "Time to go, Momma has to go to school."

Brooke and Jake ran back to Keith and Lorelei.

"Aw," Brooke exclaimed. "Do we have to? Me and Jake are best friends!"

Lorelei smiled. "Well, you have to go to Karen's. You can see Jake another time, I promise."

"I hate _Pucas_." Brooke scowled. "He's mean to me and never ever wants to play and he pulls my hair and says that I'm not a Princess!"

"Brooke, what did I say about calling people names?" Lorelei scolded.

"Sorry," Brooke apologized forcibly.

"Ok, say bye to Jake and Mr. Jaglieski."

"Bye Jake," Brooke said and gave Jake a big hug. "Bye Mr. Jaglieski."

"Oh, you will _not _believe the day we had today Kare," Lorelei greeted her best friend Karen as they entered the café Karen owed.

"Well, considering I rarely believe anything you say, I believe you," Karen joked. Lorelei had the tendency to embellish stories.

"Funny," Lorelei deadpanned. "Hey Brooke, why don't you go find Lucas?"

"Fine," Brooke huffed as she stomped off to find him, but then ran back to give Karen a hug.

"She has got to be the sweetest little girl," Karen gushed.

"Yeah, well, if you went through 24 hours of labor, you wouldn't think she was so sweet."

Karen chuckled. As much as Lorelei complained about giving birth to Brooke (which she did a lot), she knew Lorelei loved Brooke with all her heart. "Do you think they'll get married?" she asked, referring to her son, Lucas, and Brooke.

"Right now, Brooke thinks Lucas is the scum of the earth, but I _did _promise her hand to him when they first met."

Lorelei and Brooke stumbled upon Karen's Café a year ago when it first opened. Lorelei was looking for a job, and Karen was looking for a waitress. Karen and Lorelei hit it off and altough Lorelei quit after six months of working to go back and get a business degree at the local college, they remained close.

Lucas and Brooke were another story. Lucas took one look at Brooke and was hooked. He asked Lorelei if he could marry her, and she laughed and said yes. Brooke on the other hand was not so impressed with him. She introduced herself as a Princess and he told her she wasn't a Princess, which set the tone of their relationship for years to come. Brooke took offense to that, which began her hatred for Lucas. Lucas, in true four-year-old fashion, started picking on Brooke as a sign of affection.

"They're so cute together though," Karen cooed.

"I say Brooke realizes that she loves Lucas when she's 17," Lorelei said.

"17?! That's way too long. I say 15," Karen countered.

"Actually, I think that Lucas might have a little competition. She met a cute little boy today that she became instant best friends with," Lorelei said. "Is it wrong that we're betting on our kids' futures?"

Karen thought for a moment. "No," she said while shaking her head. "So Brooke made a friend?"

"Yes, which is part of the story I was trying to tell you when I walked in here. You always manage to make me forget what I'm saying! Anyways, back to my story. So I'm sitting on this bench watching Brooke and this man asks me if he can sit there. Of course I say yes, because, it's not my bench. Anyways, this cute little boy started playing with Brooke, and then they both come up to us. Turns out the boy was his son, so I tell him that I think he's cute. The guy totally blows up and says that he's not interested, which was _ridiculous_ because a) I don't recall hitting on him and 2) I wasn't interested in him like that, not that he wasn't good looking or anything, but because… well, just because," Lorelei finished.

Karen looked amusedly towards her friend. "When do you breathe?"

"Really? I tell you my story that I've been waiting to tell you the whole ride here and _that's_ all you have to say? No, 'Oh, Lorelei, maybe you should have given the man a chance, because what if he's the love of your life and you just let him get away?'" Lorelei finished animatedly.

"Maybe you should have given him a chance. What if he's the love of your life?" Karen parroted.

"Eh, he has a girlfriend. Sooo, big plans tonight?"

Karen blushed. "Yeah, the kids are finally going to meet each other."

"I really don't get the logic in this. So you've been dating this guy for almost a year, who by the way I have not met nor do I know his name, and your kids haven't met yet? And are you sure it's alright that Brooke's here, because I don't _have_ to go to class today."

"We didn't want the kids to meet and get attached because what if it didn't work out? And yes, it's fine that Brooke's here. And _yes_, you _have_ to go to class today."

"Fine." Lorelei pouted that could only be described as one mirroring her four-year-old daughter. "So, are you _finally_ going to let me in on mystery man's name?"

"His name's K-"

"Oh my god," Lorelei interrupted. "It seems we can add stalker to weird guy's list of oh-so-appealing traits."

"What?"

"The guy from the beach just walked in here."

Karen turned towards the door and saw Keith Jaglieski with his son Jake. She smiled.

"_That's_ the guy from the park?"

"The one and only. Hey, I know I don't work here anymore, but please please please let me serve him!" Lorelei begged.

Karen got a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Sure."

Lorelei walked over to Keith and Jake while Karen watched in fascination behind the counter.

"Stalking me now?" Lorelei asked as she sauntered her way towards the father and son. "I thought you had a girlfriend."

"I do," Keith responded confused. "She works here. What are you doing here?"

"Really?" Lorelei question. "She works _here_? Because I've practically _lived_ here since the moment it opened and unless you're calling yourself a pervert then I doubt your girlfriend works here."

"She does work here," Keith insisted.

"She can't work here. Because the only person that works here that you could legally date is… KAREN!"

Keith and Lorelei turned to Karen. She was smiling and waving at the two.

"That was just not funny," Lorelei said.

"Yeah it was. Lorelei, meet Keith, my mystery man. Keith, meet Lorelei, my best friend."

"Well, as much as I _love_ being embarrassed by you Karen, I have to get going. Brooke," Lorelei called out. "I'm leaving now."

Brooke ran out of the back room and into her mom's arm. "Do you have to go mom?"

"Do I have to go Karen?" Lorelei mimicked.

"Yes, so you can open that Inn you wanted, or become the designer that you wanted, and so you can buy a house near mine so Lucas and Brooke can grow up and eventually get married," Karen said listing all the things Lorelei wanted. Although Karen was only five years older than Lorelei, she couldn't help but feel motherly towards her friend.

"The things I do for you kiddo." Lorelei smiled at her daughter. "Love you Cookie."

Brooke giggled at the nickname. "I love you too Mommy." Lorelei set Brooke on the ground and left.

"Jake!" Brooke said finally noticing Keith and Jake. "What are you doing here?"

"That's _my_ mom," Jake said pointing at Karen stunning both Karen and Keith.

"See I told you you gotsa mom. C'mon, we can go play with Lucas."

The two kids left a dumbfounded Keith and Karen in the café.

"Is that alright?"

"Are you okay with that?" They asked at the same time.

"I would love nothing more than for you to be Jake's mom." Keith smiled and kissed Karen.

**Read and reply. Let me know what you think! Thanks!**

**PS I know that Lucas wasn't in the Prologue, other than being mentioned by the others, but I promise that he will be in the other parts, and is a major character.**


	2. Chapter 1

_**I'm so glad everyone's liking this story. And I really hope I'm not doing a terrible job with Lorelei, so let me know what you guys think. This story and the Naley story are two different stories. Originally, I was going to have Brooke/Lucas/Jake come into the Naley story a bit later, but I decided to write a seperate story introducing them and giving them a story. Someone from Tree Hill will meet these characters and that is when the stories will combine into one... Yeah... I probably just confused you even more... LOL, sorry. Also, for anyone reading both stories: Lucas, Jake, Nathan, Haley, and Tim are the same age and Brooke is a year younger than all of them.**_

_**Chapter One: Doppelgangers, Witches, and Tampons Galore!**_

**_September 2003_**

Brooke Davis angrily walked home from her first day of high school, muttering to herself how her very best friend in the whole wide world was Satan himself. This was supposed to be a happy day, but was ruined by one Jake Jaglieski.

When Brooke reached her house she was surprised to see her mom's jeep parked in the driveway. Lorelei was usually home at six and then they would make their way to the Jaglieski's for dinner.

"Surprise!" Lorelei screamed when Brooke walked in the door, clad in blue feather boa and party hat. She walked up to Brooke, put a red feather boa around her neck and a party hat on her head. "How was your first day?"

Brooke frowned at her mom. "It was fine," Brooke murmured. "Until Satan himself ruined it all!"

Lorelei sighed. For years, Lucas had done _something_ to annoy Brooke everyday and she wasn't surprised that today was any different. When would Lucas learn that annoyance is not the key to _anyone's _heart?

"What'd he do now?" Lorelei asked.

"Well, I got my schedule and I was trying to figure out where my first class was and since Jake's a sophomore I figured I could ask him since we are best friends and all. And he told me that it was on the fourth floor right next to the pool and then he and his stupid friends started laughing at me and he didn't even apologize! Then after school he walks up to me like everything is fine and dandy and says, 'Wanna walk home together?'" Brooke explained.

"I take it there was no fourth floor or pool?" Lorelei asked.

"No. And the room number was 106, but I didn't know how to get there. It's a very big school."

"So how'd you end up finding your class?"

"Lucas showed me."

Lorelei looked puzzled for a moment. _'Satan and every other bad name equals Lucas. So then who are we talking about?' _"Jake?" Lorelei asked incredulously.

"Yes," Brooke confirmed.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… wait. Jake? Jake, best friend since you met him, Jake? Jake, not Lucas who you do not like, but Jake, who is your best friend said there was a fourth floor right next to the pool... not Lucas?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I try to go out of my way to avoid Lucas unless absolutely necessary."

"Well, maybe it wasn't _really_ Jake. Maybe Lucas and Jake had a Freaky Friday thing going on today and they switched bodies today. It _is_ Friday," Lorelei reasoned.

"No. It was Jake."

"_Or_ maybe body snatchers snatched Jake's body and the real Jake is locked up somewhere calling out for help, but we don't realize that he's missing because there's a fake Jake running around."

"No."

"_Or_ maybe it was doppelganger Jake."

"No, it wasn't any of the above or any out of body experience. It was the one and only Jacob Alexander Jaglieski," Brooke huffed out.

"How do I know you're really Brooke? Because Brooke would never call Jake Satan, and would never, _ever_ not refer to Lucas as the scum of the earth. Maybe _you're _doppelganger Brooke!" Lorelei accused.

"Mom," Brooke whined. "I've had the crappiest days of all crap days and you're making fun of me."

"What's your middle name?" Lorelei asked.

"Huh?" Brooke asked confused.

"Your middle name. Only a few people know what it is, so this is the test to prove that you're really Brooke and not doppelganger Brooke."

"Penelope," Brooke whispered.

"Ah-hah!" Lorelei shouted pointing an accusing finger at her daughter. "You're doppelganger Brooke!"

"What are you talking about? My middle name_ is _Penelope."

"Yes, but the _real _Brooke Davis would _never_ announce that her middle name was Penelope."

"There's no one here to announce it to! It's just me and you!" Brooke smiled. Only her mother could make her forget what a jerk her best friend was.

Lorelei placed her arm around her daughter. "C'mon kiddo. Let's go see what's for dinner."

"Wait, it's not even four yet. Dinner isn't until six!" Brooke remembered.

"Hmm, how bout we go to the mall and window shop?" Lorelei suggested. "Maybe there's a witch on our block that cast a spell on Jake that reversed his personality."

"Mom!" Brooke cried.

"Sorry, let's go."

"Wait!" Brooke shouted. "Shouldn't we take off the party gear?"

Brooke and Lorelei looked at themselves, then at each other. They shook their heads and made their way to Lorelei's jeep.

"Why'd you do it, man?" Lucas asked as he and Jake made their way home from school.

"Do what?" Jake replied, playing dumb.

Lucas looked at Jake in disbelief. "You know what I'm talking about. How could you embarrass Brooke like that?"

"Maybe I did it for you. So _you_ could be her hero and I could be the jerk," Jake said. Again, Lucas shot Jake a look of disbelief. "Ok fine," he conceded. "Do you remember our _awesome_ first day of high school?"

Lucas nodded his head. "Yeah, we go the worst of the 'freshman initiation'. They took our clothes when we were in gym and left us with pink robes and bunny slippers."

"Exactly. The least embarrassing thing was the 'fourth floor by the pool room', and I figured that if I did it to Brooke then nothing else would happen to her," Jake explained. "You could still work it to your advantage, you know. She's still pissed at me so I'm public enemy number one. That makes you public enemy number two!"

"Why does she hate me so much?" Lucas wondered aloud.

"I don't know Luke. Could it be because you said she wasn't a Princess when you first met her? Or at her kindergarten graduation when the principal asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said a bird and you laughed… out loud… in front of her whole kindergarten class and all the parents. _Or_ the time at her thirteenth birthday, when she first got her period and you put tampons on her cake as candles? _Or_-"

"OK!" Lucas interrupted. "I get it. I'm pretty crappy to her. But in my defense the candle thing was _not_ my fault! Lorelei said the candles were in her bag and to stick them on the cake. I thought they _were_ candles! They had a wick type thing at the end. _Anyone_ could have made that mistake!"

"How do you not know what candles look like?" Jake asked.

"Well, you know how Lorelei is with birthdays. She goes all out and I thought they were a special type of candle," Lucas rationalized.

"But still. Tampons?"

"It's not like I knew what tampons were, what they were for or what they looked like. Yes Jake - that was my plan all along. I _planned_ for Brooke to get her period on her birthday. I _planned_ for Lorelei to ask _me_ to put the candles on her cake. I _planned _for Lorelei to have exactly _thirteen_ tampons in her bag. And really, who has _thirteen_ damn tampons in her bag?!"

Jake chuckled at the memory. He remembered how upset Brooke was and how he comforted her. He also remembered how she's pretty much said the same thing Lucas had about planning it all.

"It's not funny!" Lucas shrieked. "The girl of my dreams _hates_ me. And there are some days where I think that she's in love with _you._"

"Dude," Jake began. "First, you just shrieked like a girl. Two, she doesn't hate you." Jake paused and looked at Lucas's look of disbelief. "Ok, maybe she does hate you, but that can easily change. And three, she's not in love with me… _trust_ me."

"How do you know that?" Lucas asked.

"Because I'm her best friend and she tells me everything," Jake assured. "And I've read her diary."

"So does she like anyone?" Lucas asked hopefully.

"No," Jake said as Lucas's smile dropped. "But I didn't tell you the best part! Practically everything in her diary is how much she hates you!"

"You're really not helping anything. Thank you for telling me that the girl of my dreams hates me. Because I _didn't_ already know that, what with the _great_ friendship Brooke and I share," Lucas said sarcastically.

"Ok, you took that the wrong way. All she writes is how she hates you. That must mean that she thinks about you, enough to write about you in her precious diary."

"Jake-"

"No," Jake interrupted. "Hear me out. The only reason that she _can_ hate you so much is because she cares so much. You can only hate someone that much if you care about them."

"You really think so?" Lucas asked.

'_Dear God I hope so,' _Jake thought. "Definitely."

"Hey, Mom we're home!" Lucas called out as they entered their house.

"Hey boys," Karen greeted the boys, giving them each a kiss on their cheeks. "How was school?"

"Fine," they simultaneously replied.

"And you're both here at," Karen paused to check her watch. "5:15 because?"

"Football meeting," Lucas responded. "And Jake stayed because Brooke's mad at him."

Karen did a double take. "I'm sorry. I thought I heard you say Brooke's mad at Jake."

"I did say that," Lucas said.

"And she's not mad at you?" she asked, pointing at Lucas.

"No," Lucas confirmed.

"Huh," Karen said.

"It's not that big of a deal Mom," Jake said. "She's mad at me, but she'll get over it."

Karen chuckled. "You're so cute… and clueless. You act like you _just_ met Brooke. When has she ever let anything go?"

"Moooom," Jake whined. "You're supposed to be making me feel better. My best friend is mad at me. You're supposed to say that everything will be fine and she'll forgive me."

"Sure honey," Karen said sarcastically. "I'm kidding. You know that she can't stay mad at you for long. Now Lucas on the other hand…"

"Yes, yes. I am the scum of the earth in Brooke Davis's eyes," Lucas said.

"Aw sweetie. She'll come around."

Lucas scoffed. "I don't like her."

"Sure you don't." Karen smiled.

"I don't!" Lucas insisted. "I just don't get why she hates me soooo much!"

"I think it started the time when you were ten and you cut her hair," Karen said.

"No, it started waaaay before that," Jake stated. "It was when he was seven and he let her bird out of it's cage and it flew out the window."

"Hey, I did that bird a favor!" Lucas proclaimed. "Do you honestly believe that the bird would have lived past a year? This is Lorelei and Brooke we're talking about. Forget it. I'm going up to my room. Call me when dinner's ready."

Lucas walked to the stairs to get up to his room and left Jake and Karen to watch his retreating figure.

"It was _definitely_ the tampon incident," Karen said.

"Stop talking about it!" Lucas screamed from the top of the stairs.

"I'm going to go upstairs. Call me when Brooke gets here?" Jake asked as he went up to his room.

Twenty minutes later Brooke and Lorelei waltzed into the Jaglieski house.

"Hello Jaglieski's!" Lorelei yelled from the front door.

"I knew we should have locked our doors," Keith joked as he went to greet Lorelei and Brooke.

"Eh, you love us," Lorelei retorted.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey Brooke, how was school?" Keith asked, noting the scowl on Brooke's face.

"Worst day ever Papa J," Brooke replied, using the nickname she had given him a couple of years ago. "No thanks to your son."

Keith sighed. _'When is Lucas going to learn?' _"What'd Lucas do now?"

"Oh you haven't heard the best part Keith," Lorelei whispered to him. "It was Jake."

"Really?" Keith asked and Lorelei nodded her head.

"Yes really!" Brooke said exasperatedly. For once, she wanted to scream in Lucas's defense.

"Are you-"

"Yes, I'm a _million_ percent positive it was Jake and not Lucas," Brooke interrupted.

"Ok," Keith said, partially in disbelief.

"Why is it no one believes that Jake was mean to me today?" Brooke pouted.

Lorelei and Keith shrugged their shoulders and made their way to the kitchen with Brooke following closely behind.

"Mama Roe," Brooke began giving Karen a hug on her side. "Your son was mean to me today. He hurt my feelings."

"Which one?" Karen asked, garnering looks of surprise and a bit of suspicion from Keith and Lorelei.

"Jake," Brooke answered.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it. Hey, why don't you go up and try and work things out with Jake? Dinner won't be for about 20 minutes."

Lorelei, Keith and Karen watched Brooke make her way up the stairs to the boys' rooms.

"Who told you?" Lorelei asked.

"The boys told me as soon as they walked in," Karen informed.

"Ah, I _knew_ you couldn't have known it wasn't Lucas!" Lorelei accused.

"Wait, what happened?" Keith asked.

Lorelei began filling Keith and Karen in on the events of the day since Karen knew very little on the situation.

Brooke knocked on Jake's door. He opened the door and she pushed past him and sat on his bed with her arms folded, looking at him expectantly.

"Sure Brooke," Jake said as he stood by the doorway. "Come in, sit on my bed."

"Well?"

"What?" Jake asked.

"You're a jerk, you know that?" Brooke asked.

"Come on Brooke. You can't still be mad at me for that."

"Really? You don't think I should be mad that my best friend in the whole wide world decided to be a jerk to me today?" Brooke stated angrily. "I get it Jake. I really do. I'm a freshman, you're a sophomore and freshman are supposed to be treated like crap their first day. I got that. It's like the rules or whatever. But did you have to laugh with your friends? And you still haven't apologized."

Jake plopped down next to Brooke and put his arm around her. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

Brooke looked skeptically at Jake. "It just hurt, you know? I expect that stuff from Lucas, but not you."

"Hey, I know that Lucas has done some pretty crappy things to you, but he's not that bad. Maybe he just doesn't know how to act around you."

Brooke snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure _that's_ what his problem is."

"He _did_ show you where your class was. And he didn't laugh at you," Jake said. "You should give him a chance. He might surprise you."

"I guess." Brooke sighed. "What? Now?"

Jake just nodded his head and pulled her up. "No time like the present."

Brooke slowly made her way to Lucas's room next door. She hesitated before knocking on the door. "Come in," Lucas called out.

"Hey," Brooke greeted.

"Brooke!" Lucas called out in surprise, quickly putting the thing he was looking at back in the box it was in. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

"What's that?" Brooke asked, referring to the box Lucas tried hiding.

"Nothing," Lucas said quickly. "So, you and Jake make up?"

"We're friends again if that's what you're talking about."

"So," Lucas said awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, I just wanted to thank you for being nice to me today," Brooke said, inching towards Lucas's desk where the mysterious box was.

"Ok." Lucas nodded as he made his way to sit on his bed.

"It was really nice of you. And I appreciate it." By this time Brooke was at the desk and made a grab for the box.

"Hey!" Lucas called out. "Put that down."

Brooke ignored Lucas's order and opened the little box. Inside she saw a charm bracelet with four charms attached.

"Who's this for?" Brooke asked.

"No one," Lucas replied, trying in vain to grab the charm bracelet out of Brooke's hand. Lucas bought the charm bracelet for Brooke's birthday, even though it was a couple of months away. He already had four charms put on, but he wanted to have six charms on it and he was still trying to figure out what other two charms would represent Brooke.

"Anyone I know?" Brooke asked, trying to figure out who it was for.

"Yes, ok, you know her."

'_Ok, so I know her. The only girls that I know that he knows are Bevin, Teresa, Janet, Kelly, Tracey and Melissa. If I **assume** it's a birthday gift then that crosses out Janet, Kelly and Melissa because their birthdays passed,' _Brooke thought. "Ok, so I know her. Let's see what the charms are."

"Brooke, c'mon. Just put it back, I don't even think I'm going to give it to her," Lucas pleaded. He hoped and prayed that she didn't figure out it was for her.

"Well, then it won't matter if I know who it's for. If you don't end up giving it to the girl I won't say anything. Let's see, pom poms. So that means she's a cheerleader," Brooke observed. _'Ok, so that leaves Bevin and Teresa. The number 12 doesn't help me. Neither does the bird.'_

Brooke paused as she saw the last charm and swallowed the lump in her throat. It was a tiara. _'My birthday's on a 12th,' _she thought. She turned to look at Lucas and saw that he was looking at his shoes. "Luke," she said.

Lucas looked at her and half-smiled. "Like I said, I'm probably not going to give it to her anyways." He quickly grabbed the bracelet from Brooke's hand and placed it back in the box.

"It's beautiful," Brooke whispered.

"So, um, are you going to the back to school party tonight?" Lucas asked, trying to change the subject.

Brooke cleared her throat. "Yeah, um, I kind of made Jake promise that he wouldn't do any high school parties without me so he's forcing me to go."

"Cool."

"Are you going?" Brooke asked.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah. Um, I think dinner's ready." He rushed out of his room, not waiting for Brooke to follow him.

Brooke stood there a minute and looked longingly at the box that held the charm bracelet. Maybe Jake was right. Maybe Lucas wasn't so bad.


	3. Chapter 2

**For anyone who watches The Black Donnely's, I borrowed a little bit of Jimmy Ice Cream's _awesome_ storytelling abilities. Read and review please. Thanks!**

**_Chapter Three: Changes_**

Marvin McFadden, or Mouth to his friends and family, helped his good friends Jake, Lucas, and Brooke to Brooke's house, mentally chastising Lucas. He'd expected Jake and Brooke to fall into the 'punch' trick, considering it was their first high school party, but Lucas was a different story. They'd been to every party thrown last year and both vowed not to drink themselves into oblivion after the first party.

Mouth had met Lucas in kindergarten and the two quickly formed a friendship. Wherever Lucas was, Jake followed and wherever Jake was, Brooke wasn't too far behind. Lucas, Jake and Brooke came in a packaged deal, no matter how hard Brooke tried to shun Lucas. It wasn't long until Mouth made the threesome a foursome.

It was hard trying to manage three drunken friends, two of whom never drank a drop of liquor in their lives while being slightly intoxicated yourself. But Mouth somehow managed to do it. The normal ten minute walk from the Walker's to the Davis's became a thirty minute walk due to Jake checking _every_ single house to see if it was his, Brooke sitting on the ground every five minutes as she complained about how her feet hurt due to the ridiculous high heels she was wearing and Lucas sitting by Brooke every time.

They reached Brooke's front door and Mouth turned to address them. "Ok guys," he began, speaking in hushed tones. "We have to be very quiet."

"This is _definitely _my house," Jake interrupted while nodding his head. The action seemed too much for him so he stopped and groaned in pain.

"No silly, it's _my_ house," Brooke said, giggling.

"You're so pretty," Lucas slurred dreamily.

"Um, again, we have to be very very _very_ quiet. Do you want to play a game?" Mouth asked. The three eagerly nodded their heads. "Here are the rules. You're not allowed to speak or make any sounds."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh," Brooke grunted while raising her hand. "What do we get if we win?"

"Um," Mouth paused to think. "A car!" It was the first thing he could think of and they probably wouldn't remember it in the morning.

"Ooooh," Brooke said appreciatively. "But wait, none of us drive. What good would it do?"

"Geez you ask a lot of questions," Mouth said. "Just give me your keys and we'll go inside. But remember, no one talks."

"I don't remember where I put it," Brooke cried. She turned into Lucas arms and cried into his chest. Lucas relished in Brooke being in his arms and sighed contentedly.

"Doesn't matter," Jake said while swaying. "Lorelei opened the door for us. And look, she has a twin!"

"Crap," Mouth whispered and turned around. He smiled brightly at Lorelei's frowning face in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Lorelei," he said in fake surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Lorelei glared at Mouth. "I was about to ask you the same question. Why are they drunk?"

"Um, they're not drunk… they're just not feeling well, right guys?" Mouth looked to the three pleading them to go along with it even though he knew Lorelei knew they were drunk.

"I'm drunk," Brooke said before starting to laugh.

"Me too," Jake agreed as Lucas stared dreamily at Brooke.

"Yup, that's what I thought," Lorelei said, then turned to address Mouth. "Are you drunk Marvin McFadden?"

"No ma'am," he replied instantly. It technically wasn't a lie, because he wasn't _drunk_. He _was_ a little tipsy.

Lorelei once again glared at Mouth. "We'll deal with you later Marvin. But first, you have to help me get them inside."

Mouth groaned. He knew Lorelei was pissed because a) she was never pissed off and b) she never called him Marvin. At that moment he wished he was drunk so he wouldn't have to endure the wrath of Lorelei Davis… until the morning.

"Mom," Brooke whispered as she was practically carried to her room by Lorelei. "I have a secret for you. But you can't tell Mom ok?"

"What is it?" Lorelei whispered back.

"I'm drunk," Brooke announced loudly and then began laughing hysterically.

"I made out with a freaking senior, man!" Jake yelled excitedly into Mouth's ear as they followed closely behind Lucas, who was able to walk by himself behind his beloved Brooke. "A senior! I am the freaking man!"

"Sure Jake, you're the man. A senior, who probably didn't know your name and most likely doesn't know it now, made out with you."

"Thank you," Jake said appreciatively, not registering the sarcasm in Mouth's tone.

"Here we are. Jake, Lucas and Mouth you can take Brooke's bed. Brooke can sleep in my room with me."

"Aw, but Mom I wanna sleep with Lucas," Brooke whined.

"There will be no _sleeping_ with anyone Brooke," Lorelei stated firmly.

"But me and Jake have slept together _tons _of times," Brooke declared.

Lorelei took a deep breath. She wasn't ready to deal with her drunken 14-year-old nor was she ready to deal with her friends. She _definitely_ wasn't ready to deal with the fact that Brooke had said her and Jake had been sleeping together. Lorelei hoped that Brooke meant in the non-sexual way.

"Brooke… you, um, you don't meant you and Jake have _sex_ right?" Lorelei asked cautiously.

Brooke giggled in response. "No silly. I mean that he's slept in my room a whole buncha times."

Before Lorelei could reprimand her daughter for letting Jake sleep over because she was positive she didn't know about their sleepovers until that moment, the phone rang. She walked into the kitchen to answer the phone and left the four kids in Brooke's room.

"I'm going to bed," Brooke announced. "C'mon Lucas." She grabbed Lucas's hand and led him to the bed.

"Brooke, I don't think that's a good idea." Brooke obviously hadn't comprehended Mouth's warning for she and Lucas got under the covers and drifted off into a slumber, Lucas holding Brooke from behind. Jake went through Brooke's closet and found a sleeping bag and fell asleep on the floor by the bed.

"Ok Mouth, you're off the hook," Lorelei said as she entered the room. "You're parents called and they want you home now." She stopped when she saw the sleeping kids. "Did I not say there will be no sleeping together?"

"I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen."

"Well, I guess you're sleeping here too because there is no way I'm leaving my daughter in bed with a random boy," Lorelei said.

"He's not really random Lorelei. This is Lucas we're talking about. And besides they're passed out."

"Fine," Lorelei conceded after thinking it through in her head. She figured she could speed a little to Mouth's. "But I'm driving you home really fast. And you're telling me all about the party on the way to your house. Let's go."

"Um, you didn't mention anything to my parents about… drinking or anything?" Mouth asked when they reached Lorelei's jeep.

"Of course I did Mouth." Lorelei smiled. She was dubbed the "coolest" mom on the block, but they forgot that she was a mom as well. "Ok so why was Brooke so eager to _sleep_ with Lucas?"

"Well, it all started about ten minutes into the party," Mouth began.

_Lucas watched a few feet away as Brooke flirted with a sophomore named Brandon. He gritted his teeth and quickly gulped down the fifth - or was it sixth? - drink. He made his way to where Brooke and Brandon sat. "Scram Brando," he commanded. Maybe it was the fire in Lucas's eyes or the fact that he has been known to be an angry drunk that made Brandon quickly leave Brooke's side._

"_Hey doofus," Brooke said angrily. "I was talking to him. You can't just do that!" She angrily sipped her drink and stood up to leave. _

_Lucas lightly nudged her back on the couch and sat next to her. "I have to talk to you."_

"_You're drunk Lucas and I'm not really in the mood for some heart to heart right now."_

"_Shut up and listen. I… like… you… a lot! And you **never** give me a second thought," he slurred._

_Brooke sighed. "Lucas, I've gotta-"_

"_You don't **gotta** do nothing! Just sit there and listen. I'm pretty sure I've liked you since the first time I saw you, but I don't remember that far back. So I guess it started when you asked my mom to teach you to bake cookies… because your dad loves my mom's cookies and you wanted to bake them for him. And you looked so happy."_

"_Luke," Brooke began sadly._

"_And you just never liked me. You **don't** like me and I just want to know why. Am I not pretty enough?"_

"He asked if he was pretty enough?" Lorelei giggled.

"Lorelei," Mouth whined. "You're ruining the story. Anyways…"

"_I just don't feel that way about anyone Luke. It's not just you, I don't like anyone," Brooke sai,d hoping he would buy it._

"_You're lying. You know how I know? Because I know you Brooke. Because I've known you forever… and because you were flirting with Brandon like you liked him. Do you like him? Because what does Brandon have that I don't? Has he known you forever? Has he bought you a charm bracelet and put thought into each charms? Is he prettier than me?!"_

"_The charm bracelet was for me," Brooke murmured to herself, but Lucas heard her._

"_Of course it was for you. It's always for you. Everything is for you. I'm pretty sure I lo-" Before he could finish his thoughts Brooke sealed his lips with hers._

"You are such a liar Mouth," Lorelei said laughing. She couldn't believe that Lucas would pour his heart out to Brooke or that Brooke would kiss Lucas.

"I'm not lying!" Mouth insisted. "I was right beside them as it happened."

"And how much did you have to drink?"

"I had like one!"

"One…?"

"One punch thing." Mouth wasn't quite sure what it was they were drinking, but he knew he wasn't drunk.

"And what was that charm bracelet talk?" Lorelei asked.

"I don't know… but would you like to hear about Jake and the senior?" Mouth asked.

"Sure… we've got time."

"Well, across the room while Brooke and Lucas were arguing and then making out…"

_A senior named Nikki was playing pool by herself at the pool table in the living room. Jake walked up to her and asked her if he could play. She didn't respond so he took it as a yes._

"Why would they have a pool table in the living room?" Lorelei asked.

"Because they wanted to have one?" Mouth offered. He looked at Lorelei's facial expression and knew she wasn't buying it. "Fine, they were playing poker at the table in the dining room, but the pool table story would have been better. So a whole bunch of people were playing poker. Then it was just Nikki and Jake."

"_How about we make this interesting," Nikki suggested._

"_What'd you have in mind?"_

"_If I win this hand, you take a shot."_

"_What happens if I win this hand?" Jake asked._

"_Anything you want," she replied seductively._

"_Anything?"_

"_Anything," she parroted._

"_I want a kiss," he said, leaning forward._

_Nikki dealt the cards and looked at her hand. She was two cards away from a diamond flush. She threw the two non diamonds away and picked up an eight of diamonds and a two of clubs. She smirked. Twos were wild and she had a flush._

_Jake's cards were not good at all. The only thing he had was a high card; a king. He decided to try his luck and throw all his cards but his king. He got his four cards and the only hand he had was a pair of kings. He hoped it would be enough to win. "Ladies first," he said._

"_No, you first."_

_Jake laid his hand down. "Pair of kings."_

_Nikki looked at her flush, then back at Jake appreciatively. She placed her cards face down on the table and walked over to Jake. She spun his chair around, because he was sitting on an office chair and straddled his lap. "You win," she whispered into his ear before kissing him._

"Why was Jake sitting on an office chair?" Lorelei asked.

"Because there were a whole bunch of people playing at first and there weren't enough table chairs," Mouth answered.

"Hold on. So all of this was happening while Brooke and Lucas were doing their… thing?"

"Yes."

"And you were sitting beside them… Brooke and Lucas, I mean?" Lorelei asked.

"Well, they were sitting on one couch and I was sitting on the other which was like right beside it."

"And it was pretty loud at this party right?"

"Yeah… so?"

"How could you know, word for word, _exactly_ what happened with Brooke and Lucas, _and_ Jake and Nikki?"

"Uh…" Mouth knew he was caught. "Fine, I don't know what happened with Jake and Nikki. But it looked like that's what _could_ have happened."

Lorelei chuckled. Mouth sure knew how to tell a good story… well, a story at least. "What I don't get is why Lucas decided to spill his heart out and why Brooke kissed him," she said as she pulled up in front of Mouth's house. They noticed that the living room light was on which meant his parents were up waiting.

Mouth took his seatbelt off and opened the door. "I think we can chalk that up to their being drunk."

"Yeah, I guess. I mean how much did they have to drink?"

"Well, Lucas had about five or six. Brooke, well, she had… half. She didn't really start drinking until after she kissed Lucas," he revealed, stepping out of the car before Lorelei could say anything else.

Lorelei sat in her car for a couple of minutes thinking about what Mouth said. She knew Brooke had never drank before so there could have been a slight chance that she _was_ drunk.

When Lorelei reached home she went straight for Brooke's room to find it exactly how she left it. Lucas was holding Brooke from behind, his arm draped across her stomach and Jake snoring away on the floor. Lorelei went to her room to grab a blanket and made herself comfortable on the sofa chair in Brooke's room.

She didn't fall asleep right away because her mind was on her daughter. She and Brooke had an ideal relationship. They were mother and daughter and also best friends so it worried Lorelei that Brooke would be drinking at 14. Granted she had started her wild ways around the same time, but that was mostly to spite her parents. She realized Brooke was a teenager in high school and that she would be going to parties. Lorelei knew what it was like to be a teenager, but she thought Brooke would have been different from herself. Since she used to party and drink to spite her parents it made her wonder if Brooke was doing the same.

As Lorelei's mind wandered she couldn't help, but notice Brooke and Lucas on the bed. Throughout the night or at least for as long as Lorelei was awake Brooke would grab Lucas's arm and push it away, but Lucas would always put his arm back and hold on tighter. The odd thing was while Brooke _would_ push Lucas's arm off of her,she also kept a firm hold of the arm she was pushing away.

The next morning Brooke woke up with a massive headache. "Ugh," she groaned. "Is this what death feels like?" She then noticed the arm draped across her mid section, which she assumed was Jake's and attempted to wake him up.

"Jake," she coaxed not turning to look at him. "Wake up. Jake, let me go. Jake… Jaaaaaake."

"What Brooke? What?" Jake said from the floor, obviously irritated.

"Jake?" Brooke asked. If he was on the floor, who was she sleeping next to?

"Seriously Brooke, I love you, but please… just shut the hell up!"

"Why are you on the floor and not beside me?" Brooke asked, ignoring his previous request.

"Why do you hate me?" Jake cried. His head hurt, his body hurt and it felt like someone was jumping on his stomach.

Brooke slowly turned her head and saw Lucas's face. She shut her eyes and then opened them to find Lucas still here. Just as she was about to call his name The Bangles' Manic Monday came blasting through the speakers from the living room.

Lucas woke with a start and all three held their hands to their ears, hoping it would help. It didn't. Brooke got up and went to find the source of the music. They reached the living room to find Lorelei sitting with a Cheshire grin on her face. "Morning sleepyhead," she screamed through the music.

"MOM!" Brooke screamed back. "Turn it off!"

"What?" Lorelei asked, pretending she didn't understand.

"The music," Brooke elaborated pointing to the stereo. "It's too loud!"

Lorelei turned the music down. "Sorry Brooke. But you know how I love my Bangles in the morning." It was true. She did like listening to loud music in the morning, but Brooke never remembered it being _that_ loud. Then again she never remembered anything being as loud as it seemed that morning. "I've got breakfast in the kitchen. Why don't you call Jake and Lucas to come eat?"

"Jake and Lucas?" Brooke asked, playing dumb.

"I know they slept here," Lorelei replied. "It's fine, but I don't want anymore sleepovers ok?"

Brooke nodded her head. "You didn't happen to… you know… _cook_ the food did you?" Brooke wasn't sure if she could eat actual food at the moment or look at it, let alone herMom's cooking. To say that Lorelei's food tasted what dog food would taste like would be a compliment because dog food is edible.

"No." Lorelei chuckled. "Picked it up from Karen's this morning."

Brooke left the living room to go get Jake and Lucas as Lorelei went to the kitchen to take the food out.

Brooke, Lucas and Jake entered the kitchen to see the table set. The plates had been filled with scrambled eggs that were green, bacon and hash browns. There were also bowls off to the side filled with oatmeal. Their eyes widened and offered Lorelei strained smiles as they sat down.

"It looks… good. I've never had _green_ eggs," Brooke said. She was trying hard not to hurl all over breakfast.

"Um… Yeah, green eggs," Lucas said. His head was killing him and the sight of the eggs and oatmeal made his stomach churn.

Jake sat staring at the food, mentally coaxing himself to not turn the color of the eggs.

"Yeah, Karen was trying something new at the café and I decided that we should be her guinea pigs. I was going to get sunny side up eggs, but thought they were too _runny_." Lorelei smiled when she saw their faces drop at the thought of runny eggs.

Jake moaned as if he were in pain then tried as best as he could to smile, but he just ended up looking constipated.

Lorelei contemplated whether or not she should tell the kids that she knew they were drunk last night and that they were hung over. Although it was fun watching them pretend to be alright, she decided to let them off the hook. "I know you guys drank last night."

"Oh thank God," Jake proclaimed then dropped his head down on the table. "I feel sick. Lorelei, do you have anything to help? Advil? Aspirin? A gun?"

"No, fresh out," she replied.

"What are you talking about mom?" Brooke asked. "I know we have Advil and Aspirin in the medicine cabinet!"

"Oh, _those! _Yeah, they fell down the toilet a couple of minutes ago," Lorelei said.

"How? Why?" Jake asked close to tears.

"Oh, see, I was standing above the toilet with both bottles. Then, I decided to open them and turn my hand and the pills fell in."

"Are they still there? I'll still take them!" Lucas said. His head was hurting much worse than his last hangover and that loud wake up call hadn't helped.

"I flushed them," Lorelei replied, a little grossed out that Lucas would still take them. "Ok, so you guys need to eat up and then we'll head on over to the Jaglieski's for punishment!"

Jake groaned. "I don't think I can eat anything."

"You need it for energy. Drink lots of water, stay hydrated," Lorelei said.

Two hours later Lorelei and the kids walked into the Jaglieski kitchen to find Karen, Keith, Mouth and Mouth's parents John and Cindy waiting.

"Ok," Keith began. "Since you kids decided that you would go out and drink together we decided to come together for your punishment. Here is what we decided. You will be cleaning the houses."

"Well, at least we'll all be together," Lucas said.

Karen chuckled. "No, you won't. We have decided that each one of you will be in charge of cleaning one house in which _every_ room will be cleaned thoroughly."

"Wait there are four of us and only three houses. How's that going to work?" Mouth asked. He assumed that they wouldn't be cleaning their own houses, which made him happy since his house was one of the biggest in the city.

"Since our house is the biggest two of you will be cleaning, but will _not _be able to work together in a room," John said.

Lucas, Jake and Brooke all silently prayed that they wouldn't be chosen for the McFadden house.

"And we have decided that Mouth will be at my house," Lorelei began. "Brooke will be here while Jake and Lucas will have the McFadden's."

"Damnit!" Jake and Lucas exclaimed as Brooke and Mouth high fived each other for not getting the big house.

"Wait, wait, wait. That house is huge! It's like twice as big as our houses," Lucas complained.

"That's why you _and_ Jake were assigned to it," Cindy explained. "And after all the houses have been cleaned and inspected you _all_ will be going to the café to clean after closing."

Two hours after they started their cleaning, Jake and Lucas slipped away from the watchful eyes of Cindy and John and took a break.

"God, I _still_ feel like shit," Jake complained.

"Really?" Lucas asked. "I'm feeling a bit better. Didn't the Aspirin help?"

"No, it didn't really do much." Jake was still feeling the hangover and was envious that Lucas seemed to be fine. "It's all good though. I got to make out with Nikki last night."

"It _was_ a good night," Lucas said remembering how Brooke kissed him. "I have to tell you something."

"What?"

"Brooke kissed me last night."

"No," Jake said, not believing Lucas.

"I swear," Lucas said.

"Are you sure? What if you think it happened?"

"I know it happened Jake. I just don't know what it means." Lucas hadn't had a chance to talk to Brooke about it. There was also the issue of the morning and how they'd ended up sleeping in the same bed.

"Jake? Lucas?" Cindy called out. "Where are you?"

Jake and Lucas quickly parted way and went back to cleaning.

Mouth scrubbed the Davis's kitchen floor with a sponge. Lorelei thought it was funny to "misplace" the mop, forcing Mouth to do get on his knees and scrub each inch of the moderate sized kitchen. She also thought it was funny to stomp around in the mud outside and leave muddy footprints on the floor just as he was close to finishing.

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Mouth heard the back door open and sighed. He thought that Lorelei had finished torturing him, since he had to be at the café in about half an hour, but she obviously wasn't. Mouth didn't see the figure approaching him, because if he had he would have realized that it wasn't Lorelei who walked in.

"Whatcha doin' Mouth?" Christopher asked. He had come to visit to share some good news… at least he _hoped_ it was good news.

"Christopher!" Mouth was surprised that Christopher was actually here, considering it wasn't a holiday or Brooke or Lorelei's birthdays. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting. Ever heard of a mop?" Christopher asked.

"Lorelei thought it would be funny to have me clean the floors with a sponge."

"Why are you cleaning the floors?"

"Oh, because he, our daughter and their other two partners in crime decided they would go out and drink last night," Lorelei explained as she walked into the kitchen and gave Christopher a big hug.

"Well, in that case." Christopher grabbed a bottle of ketchup and wrote his name with it on the floor. "Enjoy Mouth!"

"Hey, you wanna have some _real _fun?" Lorelei asked. She took his hand and led him outside to where she drenched the soil in water. "Start stomping away and go leave tracks in the kitchen. The look on Mouth's face is priceless."

Christopher began stomping through mud as Lorelei looked towards the driveway. She was surprised to find that Christopher's beloved bike was not parked and in it's place was a car.

"Chris, why's there a car parked in my driveway?" she asked.

"It's mine," Christopher responded as if it were no big deal.

"Really?" Lorelei asked in disbelief.

"Really, I sold the Ducati and bought a car."

"You didn't buy a car. You bought a _Volvo_."

"What's wrong with a Volvo?" Christopher asked.

"Nothing, it's just that you used to be so bad ass, rebel without a cause and now you're… a _Volvo_ owner."

"Stop saying that like I sold my soul! A Volvo is a perfectly fine car," Christopher insisted.

"I know a Volvo's a fine car. I would have reacted this way if you'd bought a Saturn or a Nissan. It's just the thought of _you_ owning a car that's so ridiculous."

"Lore," Christopher said warningly.

"Chris," Lorelei mocked back. "I'm kidding. It's great. Really! You just haven't owned a car since you were…"

"Sixteen," they said simultaneously.

"God, do you remember that car?" Chris asked nostalgically.

"Yes, your dad bought it for you for your sixteenth birthday. I do have fond memories of the back seat."

"Ah yes, the back seat of the Lexus. And then two months after I got it, I sold it and bought my first bike."

"I gotta say that the back seat of the Lexus was soooo much more fun than the back seat of your bike."

"Please, you loved my bike."

"I only loved it because of the reaction it got from my parents," Lorelei corrected. "You bought a car huh? Next you're going to tell me that you've finally stopped drifting from state to state and have settled down."

Christopher shot her a guilty look. "You've settled down?" Lorelei asked.

"Yeah, I have," he answered with a smile. "I got a job and everything. I'm living in L.A."

"A half an hour away from here. Good choice. So what's her name?" Lorelei asked.

"Who?"

"The woman you bought a car and settled down for."

"How do you know I didn't realize that it was time for me to grow up and finally settle down?" Lorelei gave Christopher a 'I'm not stupid' look. "Ok, her name's Sherri and we've been together for about eight months."

Lorelei sighed heavily. She always knew that one day Christopher would stop trying to find himself and settle down and in the back of her mind, she always figured that _she_ would be the one he settled down with. It hurt, because the smile on his face when he said Sherri's name _was_ a genuine smile. "Are you happy?" she asked him sincerely.

"You know what Lore? I am. I really think I am," he answered.

Lorelei smiled a real smile. Although it wasn't with her, at least he was happy and that was all she ever wanted for him. "Then I'm happy for you."

Christopher breathed a sight of relief. "Good… good. But um… I don't know how Brooke'll react to Sherri, so how about we keep this between us… for now."

"Smart man," Lorelei said. She knew Brooke wouldn't be too happy with the news and that Brooke _would_ be vocal about it.

"I was thinking that we could spend the day tomorrow, all three of us, before I leave."

"Oh, you know what, I have to be at the inn tomorrow, so why don't you and Brooke have a father/daughter day?" Lorelei suggested.

Before Christopher could persuade Lorelei otherwise, Mouth came out of the house. "I finished everything."

"Fine," Lorelei said. "You can go. But, um… don't tell Brooke about Chris being here ok?"

"Of course. Good seeing you Chris," Mouth said. "Bye Lorelei."

"Stay out of trouble Mouth," Chris called out as Mouth left.

After an hour of cleaning the café, Mouth, Lucas, and Brooke made their way home. Jake left earlier because he still wasn't feeling well. Since Mouth lived in the opposite direction of Brooke and Lucas, they were left to walk home together.

"Nice night," Lucas commented through the awkward silence.

"Mm-hmm."

"Brooke, I think we should talk about what happened," Lucas said wanting to know what she thought of the kiss.

"God, that was a crazy party huh?" Brooke replied.

"Yeah, it was. Listen I need to know what you-"

"I don't remember _anything_ that happened," Brooke said, interrupting Lucas. "The last thing I remember was talking to Brandon… or was it Joe? Anyways, talking to one of those guys on the couch. Everything else is a blank. God, I hope I didn't do anything stupid!"

"So… you don't remember anything?" Lucas asked.

"No, why? Did I do something embarrassing?" Brooke asked worriedly.

"No, I don't... uh remember anything either. I was hoping that you would remember if _I _did anything stupid." Lucas felt disappointed. He hoped that she kissed him for some other reason than being drunk, but the reality was so much worse. She didn't remember kissing him.

The rest of the walk was filled with an awkward silence. By the time they reached Brooke's house, they were both anxious to get away from the other.

As Brooke walked into her house, she prepared herself for the punishment she was sure to get. Instead, she walked into a clean house with no mom in sight.

"Mom," she called out. "I'm home."

"In here hon," Lorelei called from the living room. Brooke went to the living room and found her mom had set up their normal movie night feast; chips, pizza, all sorts of candy, and popcorn.

"Definitely wasn't expecting this," Brooke said.

"Yeah, well, I have a surprise for you, that's going to be here in a couple of minutes. And you _will_ be punished for that little stunt you pulled last night… just not yet. In the mean time, I've heard some interesting things about last night," Lorelei said.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Brooke said hoping to avoid the conversation.

"Too bad. I already know you were drunk, and _something_ else."

"What?"

"You tell me," Lorelei said.

"Well, I don't remember anything."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying!" Brooke insisted.

"Really? Well, then let me tell _you_, I heard you and Jake made out."

"It wasn't Jake, it was Lucas. And I didn't make out with him, I kissed him once," Brooke corrected, then shook her head in disbelief that it only took her mother about five seconds to get the truth. Lorelei Davis was a master. "Fine, I kissed Lucas, no big deal!"

"No big deal?" Lorelei said shocked. "This is a big deal. This is the _biggest_ deal ever! What does it mean?"

"It means nothing. It means that I was not in the right mind," Brooke said hoping to convince her mom. But Lorelei knew better.

"Are you sure it didn't mean anything?"

"I don't know what it means Mom," Brooke confessed. "One minute he was telling me that he's always liked me and then he was telling me he loves me. I-"

"He told you he was in love with you?" Lorelei asked shocked.

"No… well, sorta. He was about to say it, which is why I kissed him."

"Was that the only reason you kissed him?"

"Yes… Maybe… No… I don't know." Brooke was confused. She really didn't know why she kissed him. "He was just saying all these things and it just… it just felt right. But then after, I just… it felt weird."

"Good weird, or bad weird?"

"Neither weird," Brooke answered. "I had this feeling, like everything changed… and it scared me. He instantly changed from Lucas, who did everything to annoy me, to Lucas… this _guy_."

"Oh sweetie," Lorelei said sympathetically. "You can't leave him hanging like this. You're going to have to figure out what's going on with you and tell him." Brooke shot Lorelei a guilty look and she instantly knew what Brooke had done. "You didn't."

"I didn't know what else to do!"

"So pretending it didn't happen was the only choice?" Lorelei asked.

"Well… I, I couldn't think of anything else!"

"Brooke…" Lorelei paused and shook her head. "You can't… you can't pretend it didn't happen."

"Why not?"

"Because… because it's wrong. And because he likes you!" Lorelei pointed out.

"Well, isn't it better that I not say anything _until_ I know for sure what it means?" Brooke asked.

Lorelei glared at her daughter. She guessed she was right, but Lorelei was still disappointed. "Sooner or later you're going to have to deal with it Brooke. And it's not going to be pretty."

"I know… I just don't want anything to change."

At that moment, Lorelei knew exactly how Brooke was feeling. Vulnerable, scared; everything she was feeling when Christopher dropped his bomb earlier. Everything was changing around them and they were helpless to stop it. "I know… I really know."

"Ok, what's with the movie night setup? Not that I don't appreciate it… but I was just expecting you to be… angry…"

"Oh, I'm plenty angry. But I have a surprise that I had to hold off on going all parent on you," Lorelei joked.

At that moment, Christopher walked into the house and was greeted by an ecstatic Brooke running into his arms. He loved his daughter more than he ever thought he could love anybody. "I missed you Princess."

"I missed you too Daddy," Brooke said with much emotion. She was a daddy's girl through and through. She still dreamt that one day he would confess his undying love for her Mom and they would live happily ever after.

"It's been too long," he said giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"It has," Brooke agreed. "What are you doing here?"

"Do I need a reason to visit my beautiful daughter?" Christopher asked.

"No…"

"I came here to surprise you. Imagine _my_ surprise to find my daughter was up to no good," Christopher said giving her a warning look.

"Uh… I'm sorry?" Brooke offered. She was still reeling over the fact that he was there… and it _wasn't_ a holiday.

"We'll talk about it later. Now, I have three movies in my and which I _know_ you two will love," Christopher said showing them the DVDs he borrowed from the video store.

"Oh, let me guess,: One of them is The Lord of the Rings?" Lorelei said excitedly. Her and Brooke had recently developed an obsession with the movie and couldn't wait for the others.

"Um…no. Really? Lord of the Rings? Never would have guessed it," Christopher said.

"I know! It's Harry Potter!" Brooke said.

"Have I been gone that long? I have _three_ movies, that I know you two love… or used to love."

"MOLLY RINGWALD MOVIES!" Mother and daughter screamed at the same time with huge grins on their face.

"Oh Molly, how could we have forgotten about you?" Lorelei asked, dramatically clutching Sixteen Candles to her chest.

"Which one do you guys wanna watch first?" Christopher asked as Lorelei and Brooke settled on the couch, leaving him the middle seat.

"Pretty in Pink," Brooke offered at the same time Lorelei said, "Sixteen Candles."

"How about The Breakfast Club," Christopher said. Brooke and Lorelei shrugged their shoulders and Christopher took that as a yes. He put the movie in and settled in between the two.

Halfway through the movie Brooke looked over to see her mom and dad comfortably watching the movie. They looked like a normal family, sitting there spending time together. She smiled to herself thinking how that was the way it should always be. Them as a family.


	4. Chapter 3

**Here's the new chaper... after a whole lotta months LOL. I'm sooooooooo sorry... things have been a littttle hectic. But here it is. I hope you all like it and are _still_ interested in the story. Let me know what you all think!**

_**Chapter Three: You Have Been Cordially Invited**_

"Bills, bills, bills," Lorelei said as she sorted through her mail. It was a Monday afternoon and Lorelei had the day off. She cleaned most of the house and went to visit Karen at the café all before 12. The afternoon had gone by slowly and the highlight had been when she saw the mailman stuff her mailbox with mail.

"Fancy envelope. Hmm I wonder what kind of Emily Davis extravaganza is going on this weekend." Lorelei opened the cream colored envelope and fingered the wine colored interior which almost looked like satin. Her mind wandered back to a time when she was younger and her parents had received and sent many invitations like these, cordially inviting Mr. and Mrs. So-and-So to a huge ballroom party.

Lorelei had always hated... no _detested_ these things, but she hated even more having one thrown for her. The whole concept was ridiculous to her: walking down the staircase with an escort on her arm, ladies in gowns, and the lady of the evening having three or more dresses, a white dress to be presented in, a dress to be photographed in, and another dress to wear for the rest of the night.

"Christopher Hayden and Lorelei Davis... Oh... dear... God," Lorelei said as she skimmed through the rest of the invitation. She quickly grabbed the phone and dialed her parent's house.

"_Davis residence, this is Clarissa."_

"Hi Clarrissa. This is Lorelei Davis, Richard and Emily's daughter. Is my mother around? I'd really like to talk to her."

"_She's in the study. I'll get her for you." _

"_Lorelei?"_ Emily asked.

"Hi Mom, how are you today?"

"_I'm fine Lorelei. And yourself?"_

"Oh, you know. I had the day off. Cleaned the house, visited some friends, got the mail."

"_Sounds like you had a productive day. I assume this is a social call?"_

"Yes. It's about Brooke's birthday. I was thinking of having a disco-bowling party. This was all before I got the mail by the way. Anyways do you know what I got in the mail today?"

"_There are plenty of things that come in the mail Lorelei. You're going to have to be more specific."_

"Well, I hold in my hand an invitation 'cordially inviting me to celebrate the 15th birthday of Brooke Penelope Davis hosted by Richard and Emily Davis along with Caleb and Madison Hayden'. Have I forgotten anything?"

"_Lorelei-"_

"Ah yes. Here it is. _Apparently_ Christopher Hayden and Lorelei Davis are the ones cordially inviting people. Huh. It's funny really. I don't recall cordially inviting anyone to anything."

"_I take it you have received the invitation to Brooke's birthday party."_

"Yes Mom, I have, and you know what? I'm going to have to politely decline."

"_Lorelei you cannot decline the invitation. The party is set for this weekend, and I cannot inform almost 200 hundred guests that there will be no party with such short notice. Besides, I sent it to you as a keepsake for you and Brooke."_

"No Mom, you sent this as a way of _telling_ me about the party."

"_I could have sworn I told you about the party months ago."_

"You didn't. Because if you did I would have told you 'no'. God Mom! You can't just plan a big party for _my_ daughter without asking me first!"

"_She's our granddaughter Lorelei. The Haydens, Richard and I all wanted to do something special for her birthday this year."_

"You and Dad and Caleb and Madison have always been invited to Brooke's birthday parties."

"_Oh please. Those are hardly appropriate for a girl of her stature."_

"Mom, listen to me. She is _not_ one of those little society princesses. She is a normal kid. There is no reason to throw a big party with 200 hundred guests! She's not getting married!"

"_200 hundred guests for a wedding? That is ludicrous. At least 500 guest when Brooke gets married."_

Lorelei sighed. There was no getting reasoning with Emily Davis, but Lorelei had to put her foot down on this matter. "No party Mom. I mean it."

"_She only turns fifteen once. She should at least have an unforgettable party to celebrate it."_

"Thank you for clearing that up," Lorelei said sarcastically. "I wasn't sure which age it was you only turned once."

Emily sighed on the other line. Both were stubborn to a fault and neither was backing down. _"I'll tell you what Lorelei. I will cancel the party-"_

"Thank you."

"_**If** Brooke calls me and tells me she doesn't the party."_

"Of course she doesn't want it Mom."

"_How do you know she doesn't want one?"_

"She's my daughter. I know her. I know what she likes and what she doesn't like and she definitely will _not_ like this party."

"_Ok. But only if she calls."_

"Expect a call this afternoon."

"_I received an R.S.V.P. from Christopher. It was interesting because he R.S.V.P.'d for two and so I called to confirm. Turns out-"_

"Brooke just walked in Mom. Gotta go," Lorelei rushed out and quickly hung up the phone. There was only so much Emily she could deal with and fighting about the party had drained her. She wasn't ready to fight about Christopher just yet.

"Hey Mom."

"Hey hon," Lorelei greeted. "How was school?"

"Oh the usual - boring," Brooke said smiling. "How was your day off?"

"Same. I really shouldn't take weekdays off. There's nothing to do!"

"So you were talking to Grandma?"

"Uh-huh. Take a look at this," Lorelei said handing Brooke the invitation.

"Oh my God."

"That is exactly what I said! It's like we're twins. Actually, I may have said _dear_ God, but that doesn't really matter. So, she said to call her-"

"Of course I'm going to call her!" Brooke said excitedly, cutting Lorelei off. "I can't believe it! I get to have a big birthday party!"

"Uh... huh," Lorelei said confused. "And you're okay with this?"

"Well, duh! A big party for _me! _This is like every girl's dream! Do you think I can get to wear a tiara?" Brooke asked.

"Um... Yeah, sure." Lorelei was beyond confused. She was certain that Brooke would be against the party.

"Thanks Mom," Brooke said giving Lorelei a hug.

"For...?"

"The party that you and Dad are throwing for me. I mean, I know it's the Grandmas and Grandpas that are paying for it because... you and Dad don't have the money to throw me a big party. And I know that you guys don't usually go to the Grandmas or Grandpas for anything, so thanks."

Lorelei sighed. Brooke really did want the party. "Anything for you, kiddo."

"I'm gonna go call Grandma."

Lorelei watched as Brooke ran to her room to call Emily. She made a mental note to call Christopher and ask about his guest for the party.

"Grandma?" Brooke asked when her Grandmother came on the line.

"_Hello Brooke."_

"Hi. I was just calling to thank you for the party. I know the invitation said that Mom and Dad were throwing it, but I know it was you and Grandpa... and Grandma and Grandpa Hayden."

"_Of course dear. We all wanted to do something special for you, and you've never had a big party_ _thrown for you. By the time your mother was your age she'd had quite a few. Brooke I would like to get together with you to discuss the dresses."_

"Dress... _es_?" Brooke asked.

"_Well, yes. You are going to have three dresses. Now I've already called a boutique here and they've put aside a few dresses they thought a girl your age would like and since we might have to alter the dresses you should pick them as soon as possible."_

"Grandma how many dresses am I going to be wearing?"

"_Only three dear,"_ Emily responded casually.

"Three dresses," Brooke responded, trying to process the new information. She figured there would only be one dress. It just kept getting better and better!

"_Yes, so I was thinking that we should have a girl's day tomorrow. We would also need to get shoes, accessories and we should also go try hairstyles. We could either try a single hairstyle that will go with each dress or a different hairstyle for each dress. My, there are so many things left to do! Is tomorrow a good time for both you and your Mother?"_

"Actually Grandma, I think today was Mom's only day off this week. Well, except for the weekend. But _we_ could go together... you and I," Brooke suggested. She really didn't have a problem spending time with her Grandmother. They got along well. Her Grandfather however, was a different story.

"_That sounds lovely Brooke. Also I have talked to Keith and Karen about your escort for the night and Lucas has already agreed."_

"Lucas? Uh... wha-what about Jake?"

"_Oh, sweetie, I really think Lucas would be better for the job. You look better with Lucas than you do with Jake. Is your mother around? I'd like to inform her of the plans for tomorrow."_

"She's in the kitchen. Let me get her for you." Brooke went to go find Lorelei, with her hand over the telephone speaker.

"Mom, it's Grandma. She wants to talk to you."

"Tell her I'm not here," Lorelei whispered.

"I already told her you were here!"

"Well tell her I just left," Lorelei insisted.

"I can't lie to Grandma."

"Yes you can! Like this: 'Grandman, she just stepped out, sorry'," Lorelei said, mocking Brooke's raspy voice.

"I do NOT sound like that Mom," Brooke said shoving the phone in Lorelei's direction.

"Fine," Lorelei muttered. "Hi Mom."

"_Hello Lorelei,"_ Emily said a little too cheerfully for Lorelei's liking. Had Emily been in the room Lorelei was certain she would have been grinning from ear to ear. _"I just had a **wonderful** conversation with Brooke."_

"It's not very lady-like to gloat Mom," Lorelei said, knowing that would shut her up.

"_Yes, well, I wanted to tell you that Brooke and I are going to be shopping for her dresses tomorrow. I understand that you are working and would not be able to join us."_

"Yeah, sorry," Lorelei said un-apologetically.

"_I would also like to remind you that it a formal event so I would expect you in an evening gown."_

"So I guess neon pink mini skirt and lime green halter top would be out of the question," Lorelei mocked.

"_Lorelei,"_ Emily said warningly.

"Mom, I know it's formal. I've been to a ton of these."

"_When you have your dress picked out don't forget to inform Christopher of the color so he can coordinate his tuxedo around your dress. It's only fitting for the mother and father of the celebrant to match," _Emily said ignoring Lorelei's irritated._ "Christopher is brining his girlfriend Lorelei. Did you know that? Did you know that he **had** a girlfriend?"_

"Yes Mom. I know he has a girlfriend. Sherry, that's her name. And no I didn't know he was brining her because I _just_ found out about this party." This was the conversation Lorelei was hoping to avoid. Emily was the queen of meddling mothers, especially where Christopher and Lorelei were concerned. Emily and Madison had made it their life mission to try and get them together and at the moment, Lorelei pitied the icy attitude that awaited Sherry from Emily, Madison and _especially_ Brooke.

"_I spoke with Madison and we both agree that it would be best if Sherry didn't attend. This is a family event and it would just cause unnecessary gossip among the guest if he brings his... **girlfriend**," _Emily said, the word "girlfriend" sounding offensive.

"A family event? You invited 200 people Mom. I highly doubt that we're related to 200 people. And he can bring whoever he wants to this thing," Lorelei said.

"_He cannot do this Lorelei. It should be you. You, Christopher and Brooke, the family you were meant to be."_

"I'm not talking to you about this. It's his life Mom."

"_You know I'm right. You need to fight for him Lorelei. You cannot just let this girl come into his life and take what is yours."_

"He's not a prize Mom. And he's happy. He and Sherry are happy."

"_He would be happy with you Lorelei," _Emily insisted.

"But he's not. He's with Sherry and I'm happy for them so drop it. Sherry's going to be at the party because he wants her there. I have to go. I'm sure you'll be calling sometime this week with party details. Good bye Mom," Lorelei said with the intention of hanging up the phone.

"_Does Brooke know about Sherry?" _Emily asked, halting Lorelei from hanging up the phone.

Lorelei sighed heavily into the phone. She noticed Brooke in the kitchen getting something from the fridge and wondered how much she had heard. "I have to go," she said and hung up the phone before Emily could protest further.

"Who's Sherry?" Brooke asked taking a sip of the water she got from the fridge.

"Oh, it's... um, you're Uncle... Fred's... new girlfriend," Lorelei said.

"Why doesn't Grandma want her to go? And who's Uncle Fred?"

"She doesn't really like Sherry. And you've never met Uncle Fred. He was twice removed," Lorelei lied.

"I never understood that removed stuff. How do you remove someone from your family?" Brooke asked.

"I dunno. Believe me, if I knew, there would be _plenty_ of people I would remove."

"I'm bored," Brooke complained.

"You're preaching to the choir kid. Did you know that the highlight of my day was getting the mail?" Lorelei asked. It was true. She was excited when the mail came until she saw the invitation.

"Um," Brooke began as she took a seat beside Lorelei at the kitchen table. "Grandma asked Lucas to be my escort."

"And...?" Lorelei asked not seeing the problem.

"It's Lucas," Brooke stated bluntly.

"We're not back to hating Lucas are we?"

"No, we're not back to hating Lucas. I never actually hated him by the way. I'm just avoiding him," Brooke explained.

"Because you kissed him?" Lorelei asked mockingly.

"I didn't kiss him!" Brooke exclaimed. She wasn't quite sure whether she told her mom, and she wasn't about to let her know now.

"Yes you did! You told me you did."

"Oh yeah," Brooke said. "I forgot I told you. I'm sure he forgot about it by now... but it's still weird."

"It shouldn't be weird. It's not like he knows _you know _you kissed him." Lorelei thought through her statement and then nodded her head.

"Still..."

"Unless you like him," Lorelei responded nonchalantly.

"I don't like him. I mean... I don't like him like _that_."

"Really?"

"Really," Brooke assured. "I don't."

"Of course you don't. So why do you feel guilty?" Lorelei asked.

"I don't feel guilty. Why would I feel guilty?"

"For lying to Lucas," Lorelei said.

"I'm not feeling guilty," Brooke insisted. "It's weird and awkward because I kissed him. I'm avoiding him because..."

"Because you like him," Lorelei taunted.

"Fine I'll prove to you that I don't like him. Let's go over there right now."

"Ok," Lorelei agreed. She grabbed her purse and car keys. As they were walking to Lorelei's jeep her cell phone rang. Lorelei looked at the caller id and saw it was Christopher. "Honey, how about I meet you there? I have to take this call."

"You're letting me drive your jeep?" Brooke asked.

"No license, no driving. You can walk there," Lorelei said. "See you there ok?"

"Ok," Brooke said and started her walk to the Jaglieski's.

"Hey Chris," Lorelei greeted.

"_Hey Lore. I just talked to my mom and she actually forbids me to bring Sherry to Brooke's party," _Chris said, obviously annoyed.

"Yeah, I just got the invitation today. I think-"

"_I need you to back me up on this Lore."_

"The thing is Chris, I think she's right."

"_What?!"_

"Just listen for a sec. Everyone's going to make a big thing about it and you know it. I just think it would be best for everyone if she didn't come. You haven't even told Brooke about her. Were you just going to spring her on Brooke at the party? I'm just trying to protect my daughter."

"_She is my daughter too!"_

"I know..." Lorelei responded.

"_Do you Lore? I know that I wasn't there for her ever single second of her life, but I am a good father."_

"You are."

"_Then don't tell me I can't bring Sherry to **my** daughter's birthday party."_

Both ends of the phone were silent. Lorelei didn't know what to say to convince Christopher that she was on his side and not their parents. "She's going to hate her."

"_She's not going to hate her. She didn't hate Andy when you dated him," _Chris said.

"She liked Andy up until the time I dated him. The whole year we were dating she was _awful_ to him." Andy was Keith's cousin and Lorelei had met him around the time she met Keith. Brooke had _loved_ Andy, but when she and Andy started dating Brooke had become a nightmare to him. "Listen, why don't you introduce Sherry to Brooke?"

"_I was planning on it."_

"_Before_ the party," Lorelei emphasized.

Christopher thought through the proposition. It seemed like a good idea. With Lorelei there to act as a buffer, Brooke couldn't really get too mad. _"How about dinner? All of us - you, Brooke, me and Sherry? Tomorrow?"_

"Brooke's going shopping with my Mom tomorrow, but they'll probably be done by seven. And I really think this is something you should do yourself."

"_I need you Lore," _Chris said desperately. _"To help me."_

"I can't make you any promises. My work schedule is really hectic this week."

"_Please try. That's all I'm asking."_

"Ok," Lorelei agreed. She hung up the phone wondering what she got herself into. Her phone rang once again before she reached her jeep. She looked at the number and sighed. She was never going to get to Karen and Keith's. "Hi Madison."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi!" Brooke greeted brightly when Lucas opened the door.

"Hi," Lucas replied skeptically.

"Whaaaaaaaatcha doin?"

"Nothing," he answered, blocking the doorway.

"So... anybody home?" Brooke asked trying to see past Lucas's shoulders.

Lucas stepped to the side and let Brooke into the house. "Dad's at work, Mom and Jake are at the doctor's."

"No one?" Brooke asked, hoping he was either joking or lying.

"Just me," Lucas replied.

"Not even Nana?" The desperation for _someone_ other than Lucas to be home was obvious in Brooke's voice.

"Nana's been dead for eight years. And she never lived here."

"Yeah... I thought... you know, maybe her poltergeist or something was hanging around," she mumbled. "So Jake's at the doctor's?"

"He's been feeling sick for the last couple of weeks, especially in the mornings."

"I bet he's pregnant," Brooke joked. An awkward silence set in which made Brooke start to squirm. She went to Lucas's to prove that it wasn't weird between them, but all she wanted to do at that moment was to run out of the house. "So," she said trying to break the silence. "What were you doing before I got here?"

"Playing video games," Lucas replied leading her into the living room.

"Yay," Brooke said, happily clapping her hands. "A language I speak."

"You play video games?"

"Duh. I'm like, the queen of racing games," she stated proudly.

"You are such a liar."

"I'm serious," Brooke insisted. "What do you think me and Jake do in his room all day?" Lucas shrugged his shoulders and smiled suggestively. "Ew, not _that_, perv," she exclaimed.

"Hey, you asked."

"Whatever, prepare to eat my dust."

"I don't think so Brooke. I'm a boy… you aren't," Lucas explained as thought he was speaking to three-year-old.

"That's so stupid Luke. Come on, let's play. Or are you too scared of getting your ass kicked by a wittle giwl?"

That was the last straw for Lucas. He planned on going a little easy on Brooke since he figured that was what Jake did to make Brooke think she was good, but not anymore. He was going to bring his A game. "You ready Penelope?" Lucas said, intentionally trying to rile her up.

"Always," Brooke replied sweetly. "Eugene," she added mockingly.

After five minutes of Lucas trying to rush Brooke into picking a car and Brooke explaining that picking a car was an important part of the game, the race was on. Lucas looked over at Brooke and couldn't help, but smile at how cute she looked. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, she bit her tongue and stuck it out to the side of her mouth like a little kid and her body moved right along with the car in the video game. She was cute alright. It was just too bad that he had to kick her ass in the game.

"And that," Brooke exclaimed as she got up and threw the controller on the couch, "is how you race a car." She spun around a couple of times and did a little victory dance while Lucas looked from the TV screen and his controller baffled.

"Well... I mean... there must be something wrong with the controller," Lucas said, sure of himself.

"Mmhmm," Brooke replied as though she was amusing him.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. It's the controller right?"

"Yeah, there must be some screws loose or something," Lucas said turning the controller in his hand and looking for something wrong with it.

"Mmhmm," Brooke said in the same tone as before.

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?" Brooke asked innocently. "Wanna play again?"

"No," Lucas quickly replied. "I've just been playing since I got home and it... should cool down."

"Mmhmm." Lucas glared at Brooke as she apologized for saying 'mmhmm' again.

"Excited for you big party?" Lucas asked with his back to Brooke as he started to coil the controllers and put the Playstation console away.

"I really am!" Brooke said grinning from ear to ear. "My Grandma's taking me shopping tomorrow for my dress_es_. Not _dress. Dresses._"

Lucas laughed at Brooke enthusiasm over the dresses. "Oh before I forget, tell your Grandpa thanks for the book recommendation. I really loved it."

"You can tell him yourself at the party."

"You're not going to see him before then? He's not going shopping with you and your Grandma?" Lucas asked.

Brooke shrugged her shoulders. "Probably not. And even if he was I doubt we'd talk."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Our conversations usually consist of him asking me how school is and me telling him that school's fine. I can't find anything to talk to him about. I doubt he'd want to gossip, or talk about clothes like I do with Grandma. The only thing we talk about is school and I always get the feeling that he expects more from me with school."

"He loves you Brooke. I don't think he cares if you're an A student or a B student."

"I know he loves me," Brooke said. "We just can't find something to talk about. You talk to him about books, but the only thing I've ever read were books required for school."

Lucas saw that Brooke was getting uncomfortable with the conversation about her Grandpa so he decided to change the subject. "Listen, I'm sorry that you're being forced to have me as an escort. I know you'd rather have Jake. I tried to get out of it but your grandma gave me no choice."

"Luke, it's not like that. I'm glad it's you," Brooke tried assuring him. Although her first choice wasn't Lucas she was happy that he was going to be her escort.

"But you'd rather have Jake right? It's cool Brooke. I promise not to do anything to ruin your party if it makes any difference."

"Luke I swear I am really glad it's you."

"So you're telling me that if you had a choice in the beginning you'd choose me?" Lucas asked doubtfully.

"Well... I mean, when you put it like _that_," Brooke said fidgeting. Jake _was_ her first choice, but sitting there and talking to Lucas wasn't so bad. "But the only reason I'd choose Jake is because I know that he wouldn't let me fall on my ass and make a fool of myself."

"If it's any consolation I promise not to let you fall," Lucas said as he turned his head and smiled at her.

"I'm more concerned about you laughing at me if I fall," Brooke joked. And just like that the conversation turned around to a playful tone that put Brooke at ease.

"It would really have to depend on the fall. If it was a little one I probably wouldn't laugh. But if it was a big fall where you pretty much wiped out I'd probably pee myself laughing."

"You do realize that as my escort you're required to be with me at all times and if I took a fall like _that_ I'd take you down with me," Brooke promised lightly.

"So it's settled," Lucas said as he sat beside Brooke on the couch. "You fall I fall Jack?"

"I guess," Brooke replied, nudging him with her shoulder. She looked over at him surfing though the channels and took a deep breath. "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?" Lucas answered not taking his eyes off the TV.

"I was wondering... if you wanted to come with me to my party."

"I thought we already talked about this," Lucas said with laughter in his voice. "Your grandma already asked me and I said yes. She would probably have me shot if I didn't show up."

"I know, I just was asking for me," Brooke said, playing with the hem of her shirt. "If you wanted to come as my... date... type thing."

"Lucas, we're home," Karen called out as she opened the front door.

"Fuck!" Lucas yelled frustrated. He and Brooke were actually having fun and acting like friends. And she _asked_ him to be her date!

"Lucas Eugene Roe Jaglieski! You didn't just swear did you?"

"No," Lucas said taking the off chance that she didn't _fully_ hear him swear which was slim to none.

"Did you just lie to your mother Lucas?" Karen asked.

"Yes," Lucas said defeated. "I'm going to have to go to my room now aren't I?"

Karen nodded her head. Lucas smiled at Brooke and walked up to his room.

"Mama Roe!" Brooke greeted taking the groceries from Karen's hands and putting them in the kitchen.

"Hi Brooke," Karen said giving Brooke a hug. "Where's your mom?"

"She's still at home. She got a call from someone. It was probably Grandma again calling to talk about Uncle Fred's girlfriend or something." Karen looked at Brooke confusedly. She was sure she knew most of Lorelei's relatives and wasn't familiar with a Fred. "Yeah, I don't know who he is either Mama Roe, but Grandma doesn't want his girlfriend Sherry at the party."

Ah, _Christopher_ was Uncle Fred, Karen realized. As much as she knew how much Sherry's presence in Christopher's life upset Lorelei, even if Lorelei didn't admit it, she was curious to meet Sherry.

"SBFF!" Brooke yelled when Jake walked in carrying the rest of the groceries.

"SBFF?" Jake asked confused.

"Super Best Friend Forever, duh! It's just so long to say super best friend forever, so I shortened it to SBFF!"

"You can't just call me by my name?" Jake asked annoyed. He didn't mean to come off as a jerk, but he was tired and sick, and just spent a good two hours in the doctor's office getting every test known to man done.

"Someone's mad," Brooke sang. "What happened at the doctor's? Did they tell you what's wrong with you? Are you pregnant?!"

"Shut up Brooke," Jake warned.

"Aw. Someone's cranky. Must be the hormones," Brooke whispered loudly to Karen. "Who's the mother Jake? How far along are you? Is it a boy or girl? I told you not to sleep with random people at parties," Brooke mocked.

Jake, obviously annoyed, stomped up the stairs and slammed the door to his room.

"Oh geez, what's wrong with him?" Brooke asked Karen.

"He was in the doctor's office for a long time being poked, prodded and tested," Karen explained.

"Oh. I should apologize shouldn't I?" Karen nodded her head and Brooke followed in the boys previous footsteps and went up the stairs. As she stood in the middle of the hallway, wondering which Jaglieski boy to talk to first, she couldn't help but wonder what the hell was going on. Her and Lucas were acting like they were friends and Jake was mad at her. She cursed those damn Jaglieski boys for making her complicating things. She picked the Jaglieski she knew she had to talk to first, and oddly enough, the one she _wanted_ to talk to first.

"Come in Brooke," Lucas called out.

"How'd you know it was me?" Brooke asked when she entered the room.

"Mom usually knocks then sticks her head and asks if she can come in. Jake... well, I heard him stomp up the stairs and slam his door."

"Yeah. So, um... you didn't get to answer my question before, about being my date to my party," Brooke said slowly.

"I already promised this one girl I'd take her to a party that night, but I guess I can ditch her for you," Lucas joked.

"How nice of you. Just don't break the other girl's heart, 'k?" Brooke said with a lightness in her voice, enjoying the fact that she and Lucas had suddenly developed a relationship where they could joke around with each other.

"She'd probably break my heart before I broke hers."

Brooke cleared her throat, uncomfortable once again at where the conversation was headed. She didn't want to admit that Lucas had feelings for her even if it was blatantly obvious. She was perfectly happy being oblivious to it. "I've gotta go apologize to Jake. I'm the reason he's a little pissed right now."

Brooke stalled in front of Jake's door. She had to admit she was a little mean to him, but it wasn't like she _knew_ he was at the doctor's for such a long time. Her doctor's visits usually consisted of her Mom and the doctor fighting over both their diets, the doctor telling them to start eating vegetables and having a healthier diet if they wanted to live past 40. Her mom usually fought back, arguing that nothing good happens after 40 anyways.

She chickened out and walked back to Lucas's room. Lucas opened his door before Brooke could, shaking his head. "Couldn't do it?" he asked.

"He's gonna yell. I don't like when people yell."

"Come on," Lucas said as he grabbed her hand. He walked them to Jake's room and knocked on his door.

"Go away Brooke!" Jake angrily called out.

"It's me," Lucas said still holding Brooke's hand.

"You can come in. But Brooke better not be with you!"

"She's not with me," Lucas lied.

"I heard two pairs footsteps!" Jake said, still not opening the door.

"You _heard _two pairs of footsteps?" Brooke asked, giving away that she was there.

"No. HAH, I knew you were there. You're not allowed to come in!" Jake said.

"I don't want to come into your smelly room anyways!" Brooke yelled.

"Yeah, that's why you're out there using Lucas to try and get into my room right?"

"Jake, come on man. Just let us in," Lucas said.

"NO! And since when are you two SBFFs?"

"HEY! You can't use my word. And what do you care? Jealous?" Brooke smirked even though Jake couldn't see it.

"Not likely, so you'd better wipe that stupid smirk off your face!" Jake said back.

"I HATE YOU JAKE!" Brooke yelled and kicked his door.

"Oh, _reeeeal_ mature Brooke," Jake said.

"Let me in! Right now!" Brooke whined as she began pounding on Jake's door.

"No!"

"You do know that we don't have locks on our doors right?" Lucas said to Brooke.

"Oh," she said and stopped pounding on his door. She opened the door and walked into Jake's room. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Making fun of you downstairs."

"Not for saying you hate me or anything else?" Jake asked.

"Nope. You were being a bit of a jerk."

"'k," Jake said, accepting her apology.

"You two are so weird," Lucas said eyeing them strangely. They looked at him and shrugged their shoulders, not knowing how to respond to him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm having a crappy day," Lorelei announced to Karen when she walked into her house.

"We're having pizza," Karen replied, hoping to cheer Lorelei up.

"Yay, all better!" Lorelei said with a smile. "Well, not _all_ better. Just a little bit. Pizza cannot erase the dose of Emily and Madison I was forced to take today."

"What happened?" Karen asked, even though she was positive it had something to do with Brooke's party.

"Don't try and pretend that you haven't already been cordially invited."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Karen said, feigning ignorance.

"My mom told Brooke that she asked Lucas to be her escort so obviously you know about the party."

"I'm sorry Lore. She came to me asking to help her throw a party for Brooke and I couldn't say no. Emily isn't as bad as you think she is, you know?"

"That's because she isn't _your_ mom," Lorelei muttered. "Wait. You _helped_ her throw this party?"

"Maybe."

"Why would you help her throw a party for Brooke?!" Lorelei asked, a little angry. "You're _my_ best friend. You're supposed to be on my side all the time... even if I'm being stupid and you know I'm wrong!"

"I am on your side Lore! But this wasn't about you or Emily. It was about doing something nice for Brooke."

"Fine," Lorelei said stubbornly. "But what if she didn't want one? What would you have done then?"

"She would have wanted the party," Karen assured her.

"I was so sure she wasn't going to want one. I mean I didn't want them so I just naturally assumed she would be like me."

"She's not you Lorelei."

"I know," Lorelei replied. "But she's about as close as you can get to me without actually _being_ me."

"Not really. I mean, you both can talk nonstop, eat nonstop, but your personalities are pretty different. She's a popular girl, a cheerleader. You told me you used to throw eggs at cheerleaders during pep rallies."

"I was popular in school," Lorelei replied. "I was popular among the _outcasts_," she added in response to Karen's look of disbelief. "I'm just scared... that she's going to want all that, the endless parties, the high society. And I'm the one that kept her from it."

"It's just a party Lorelei. And Brooke loves her life. She loves you, she loves her family and she loves her friends."

"_I HATE YOU JAKE!"_

"Well, most of the time she loves her friends," Karen said.


	5. Chapter 4

**Hope everyone likes the new part! Let me know what you think ).**

_**Chapter Four: You Don't Know Her  
**__**  
**_Brooke skipped excitedly to her mom's car when she saw her pulling into the mall parking lot. She had just finished dress and accessory shopping with her Grandmother and was getting picked up to go to dinner with her dad. Brooke smiled brightly to Lorelei as she got into the car.

"I take it shopping went well," Lorelei said.

"It was fan-tab-u-lous," Brooke replied.

Lorelei looked at Brooke questioningly. "Fantabulous?" She pulled out of the parking lot and made her way to the restaurant to meet Christopher.

"It's my new word. Fantastic and fabulous put together. Kinda like me. Anyways I got three gorgeous dresses, one white, one midnight blue and one red, but the saleslady called it 'wine'. And the best part: Grandma _bought_ me a tiara, which means that after the party, I get to keep it… _forever_!"

"Three dresses and a tiara, think you can handle all that?" Lorelei teased.

"Mooom," Brooke whined. "Stop making fun of me. This is like _the_ best thing that's ever happened to me!"

"Wow, the fbest thing that's happened to you in 14 years? Well, technically nine since for the first five years were spent eating, sleeping, and using the bathroom."

Brooke didn't appreciate Lorelei's jokes and turned her head towards her window. "That's not very nice you know."

"'That's not very nice'? You spend a couple hours with my Mother and all of a sudden you're her little clone," Lorelei said partly, joking and partly serious. This party was not turning out to be what Lorelei expected. She definitely wasn't expecting her mother and Brooke's bonding. "I'm sorry sweetie. It's just that this whole party thing's never appealed to me."

"It's alright," Brooke said. "I've never had a party like this and I'm excited for it. It's not everyday that I get to play dress up and have all eyes on me you know."

"Well Princess Brooke, I promise to stop making fun of you and do everything I can to make that day special," Lorelei said as she turned into the restaurant parking lot.

"You know, it's funny you should say that," Brooke began.

Lorelei found a parking spot and braced herself for what was coming. She knew her mother and knew that the next words coming out of Brooke's mouth had something to do with Emily. "Yes sweetie?"

"Well, when Grandma and I were shopping we saw this beautiful dress and -"

"No," Lorelei said cutting her off. She kind of already had a dress for the party. For the past couple of years, Lorelei had fidgeted around with sketching designs for clothes and dresses, but never had the time or motivation to actually make something of those sketches. When she heard about the party she had wanted so badly to make a dress for Brooke and herself to wear, but with such short notice it would be impossible to finish both dresses. She wanted to make the dress for Brooke so she started to sew a dress for her anyways, even if Brooke would never wear it. Lorelei also started putting her own dress together, but a week was hardly enough time to finish both dresses.

"Why not?" Brooke asked.

"Because I already have a dress in mind, but it might not be ready."

"So why don't you use the dress that Grandma bought?"

"No. I know my Mother and her 'style' and the dress is probably heaps of taffeta and… and tulle. And it's probably green because she knows I don't look good in green."

"Come on Mom. This is me we're talking about. I would _never_ pick a dress that didn't look anything but fantastic on you. Trust me, you're going to be the most gorgeous person at the party... well, next to me of course, but that's a given."

"Fine," Lorelei conceded. "Hey, I forgot to tell you that on Friday we're having a birthday dinner for you since I couldn't throw you a Lorelei Davis birthday bash this year."

"As much as I love the birthday parties you throw for me I'm actually really excited for this party. I can't believe that you _hated_ these parties! They seem like such fun and I've only gotten to the pre party planning stages."

Lorelei tried to be happy for her daughter, but inside she was dying. This was just another reminder that mother and daughter _were_ quite different and Lorelei couldn't give Brooke what she really wanted. "I guess we're different."

Brooke shrugged. "I guess. I mean, I probably wouldn't have left Grandma and Grandpa's."

And there it was. The one thing that worried Lorelei was that her relationship with Brooke would end up similar to her relationship with her own mother. Lorelei _hated_ growing up in _that_ world - parties, social status, and money - and resented her mother for forcing all those things upon her growing up. As hard as Emily tried, Lorelei never really fit into any of that, nor did she want it. She left her parents' house because she wanted more for herself and for her newborn daughter and had made a pretty good life. Despite the struggles Lorelei went through being a teenage mother with no money, trying to start a new life for herself and her daughter, she wouldn't change a thing. She wouldn't change the sleepless nights in some dump of an apartment those first few years for all the money in the world.

Lorelei looked over at her daughter and wondered if maybe she _had_ made the wrong decision in taking Brooke away from the security of money. Maybe it was a mistake and Brooke would have been better off growing up in an opulent environment.

"What?" Brooke asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," Lorelei whispered sadly. "We should go. Your dad's probably waiting."

Lorelei unbuckled her belt and opened her door. Brooke placed a hand on Lorelei's arm, halting her from getting out of the car.

"You okay Mom?" Brooke asked with concern.

Lorelei plastered on a fake smile. There was no use in worrying Brooke about her insecurities. "I'm fine hon. Just thinking about problems at work."

"You didn't have to come you know."

Lorelei laughed at Brooke's statement. "Really? After you basically told me you would disown me as your mother if I didn't come to this dinner with you? I _really_ didn't have to come?"

"Fine. So you _had_ to come. Smile! Be happy," Brooke said, flashing Lorelei a wide smile. "Besides, I have a feeling this dinner is going to be a new start for you and Dad." With that said Brooke winked at Lorelei, jumped out of the car and happily strolled to the entrance of the restaurant.

Lorelei shut her eyes and silently prayed for a miracle - something that would prevent the crumbling of her daughter's world. Brooke made it known that Lorelei and Christopher were meant to be together and that she wanted nothing more than to see them get together. This was going to crush her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Daddy!" Brooke squealed as she hugged her dad.

"Hey Princess. Where's your Mom?" Christopher asked.

"She's coming. She was right behind me. Have you been here long?"

Christopher pulled out a chair for Brooke and she sat down. "I got here about five minutes ago."

Brooke looked around the round table and noticed there were five chairs, but didn't think much of it. "So, what's good here? I am starving," she proclaimed as she scanned through the menu.

"I think we should wait to order," Chris said.

"Yeah, yeah," Brooke said waving him off, not looking up from the menu. "Wait for Mom because it's the 'polite' thing to do. I think I'm in the mood for pasta."

"You know Brooke since it's just us two right now there's something I want to tell you," Chris said nervously.

Brooke looked up from her menu and smile at Chris flashing her dimples. "Yes?"

Before he could get a word out, Lorelei finally appeared from outside. "Hey Chris," she greeted. "Hope you weren't waiting too long."

"We've been waiting an _eternity_ Mom. Now sit your butt down and figure out what you want quickly because I'm about to eat my arm! I'll flag down the waiter," Brooke rushed out.

"Wait Brooke, not yet," Chris said. "We're still waiting for -" He was interrupted by a voice calling his name. Three heads turned towards the person - one pair of eyes filled with relief and two with curiosity.

Sherry Collins was usually a confident woman, but at that moment - being scrutinized by the two most important people in Chris's life - she felt like she was an inch tall. She knew about Chris's daughter and knew it was going to be a challenge trying to make a relationship with a teenager, but she was determined to make her relationship with Chris work. "Hi everybody," she said politely.

"Who are you?" Brooke asked, even though she was fairly certain she already knew the answer.

"I'm Sherry," she replied, sticking her hand out. "You must be Brooke."

Brooke looked at Sherry's outstretched hand and back to her eyes. "I didn't mean what is your _name_. I meant what are you _doing_ here?" Brooke asked rudely.

"Brooke," Chris scolded. "You're being rude."

Brooke scoffed at her dad. "Sorry," she said without the faintest hint of remorse in her voice.

Chris stood up from his chair and went to stand by Sherry. He put his arm around her and smiled. "Brooke, Lore, this is Sherry. My girlfriend."

After seconds of uncomfortable silence Lorelei decided to break the ice and hug Sherry. "Hi Sherry. It's so nice to meet you." She released Sherry from the hug and sat back down next to Brooke. "Brooke?"

Brooke leaned back into her chair, folded her arms across her chest and shook her head as she willed the tears that were building in her eyes not to fall. "Unbelievable."

"What was that Brooke?" Chris asked.

"You _heard_ what I said Dad I wasn't exactly whispering it," she snapped in response.

"Brooke, please," Lorelei pleaded.

"Please what Mom? Put on a smile and pretend that I'm happy to hear my dad's got a girlfriend?" Brooke stood up and walked right up to Sherry's face and gave her a fake, sugary sweet smile. "Hi Sherry, it's _so_ nice to meet you. We're just going to be the _best_ of friends. How long have you and my Dad been dating?"

"Um, since March," Sherry responded. She wasn't surprised or hurt by Brooke reaction. It was obvious Brooke loved her father and wanted her parents together.

"Wow," Brooke said with tears in her eyes and turned to Chris. "She must be pretty special huh? I mean, you were willing to move to be closer to her and you couldn't do it for your daughter."

"Brooke," Chris said. It broke his heart that he could cause his daughter so much pain when it was his job to keep her from this kind of heartache.

"Mom, can we go? I'm not so hungry anymore." Brooke grabbed her purse and made her way towards the door without waiting for a response.

"Brooke wait," Chris pleaded.

She turned around before she was fully out the door. "I'm done waiting Dad."

"Listen," Lorelei said to Sherry. "I'm sorry about this. But it really was nice meeting you. I'll talk to you later Chris."

Chris grabbed Lorelei and stopped her from leaving. "Can I... Let me?" he asked, referring to Brooke.

"Go," Lorelei said, giving him a smile of encouragement. Chris ran from the restaurant after Brooke, leaving Lorelei and Sherry alone. Lorelei motioned for them to sit down. "I'm really sorry about her. She's a good kid, usually, but she's just -"

"A daddy's girl?" Sherry finished.

"Yeah," Lorelei responded. "I'm sorry if she hurt your feelings."

Sherry smiled at Lorelei's genuine niceness. "I can handle it. I was expecting it. Chris told me all about her... well, the _good_ stuff and I could tell how much he adored her and daughters usually adore their fathers just as much. I knew she wouldn't be too happy."

"Yeah, but I'm sure you weren't expecting Lucifer himself," Lorelei joked, which garnered a laugh from Sherry. "She'll warm up to you," she said comfortingly.

Sherry nodded her head. "I knew he had a teenage daughter and I knew going into a relationship with him would be tough."

"He's worth it," Lorelei said honestly.

There was a moment of silence, both reflecting on Lorelei's statement, before Sherry spoke. "You know, most people talk about their exes negatively or just don't talk about them at all. But Chris only has good things to say about you and I can see why."

"Thanks," Lorelei said. "I'd like to return the compliment, but since Brooke didn't know about you, my information on you is limited. But I can tell you that when he told me about you he smiled like he was in love."

"Thanks. I think it would be best for everyone involved if I didn't go to Brooke's party. It's for her and she should have the best time possible and she'd probably be upset if I was there."

"No. You should come. Chris wants you there. I want you there," Lorelei said sincerely.

"Yeah, but the celebrant doesn't. It's okay. I can be away from Christopher for _one_ night," Sherry said jokingly. "Besides, I think some of my girlfriends are jealous because of the time I spend with Christopher. I can hang out with my girlfriends that night. It's not a big deal."

Lorelei smiled at Sherry. Sherry was a genuinely nice person and Lorelei was glad that Chris was happy, even if it wasn't with her. "You should be there. There's going to be 200 people at the party, Brooke won't notice you."

"Are you sure?" Sherry asked.

Lorelei nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"She won't talk to me," Christopher said a second later when he entered the restaurant again. "She locked herself in the Jeep and just won't talk to me."

"Oh Chris," Lorelei said sympathetically. "Give her some time. I'll talk to her. I've got to get going though, but I'll see _both_ of you at the party."

Lorelei gave them both a hug goodbye as they both agreed before she made her way to her Jeep.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lorelei asked when she got in the Jeep. She started the car, pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.

"Not really," Brooke whispered. It devastated her that her dad was dating someone seriously, serious enough to move and settle down. But what hurt even more was Brooke knew how much it _killed_ her mom, even though she'd never admit it.

"Can I do anything?" Lorelei asked helplessly.

"Can we go to Jake's?"

"Sure hon," Lorelei responded. She should have known that was where Brooke would have wanted to go. Whenever she was angry or hurt, it was always Jake who made her feel better.

The half an hour ride back to the Jagielski's was filled with silence. Brooke thought about her dad and how she dreamt that one day she, her dad and her mom would be a family. Ever since she learned what marriage was she'd had this fantasy that her parents would get married and live happily ever after. Every time her Dad rolled into town Brooke would get her hopes up and expect him to stay. But he left every time, leaving behind a broken hearted daughter.

As soon as Lorelei turned off the car when they got to the Jagielski's Brooke ran inside to Jake's room, saying a quick hello to Karen without missing a step. She burst into Jake's room without knocking and angrily sat on his bed.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Jake asked. "I could have been naked you know."

Brooke shot him a look that told him she wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"You okay?" Jake asked. It wasn't uncommon for Brooke to come storming into his room in one of her 'angry moods', which were usually over trivial things.

Tears slid down Brooke's cheeks as she shook her head.

Jake kneeled down in front of Brooke concerned. "What happened?" he asked as he took her face in his hands.

"My dad keeps breaking my heart." At her own confession Brooke broke down and sobs overtook her body. Jake took her into his arms and held her as she cried.

Jake hated seeing Brooke cry and she always did every time Chris left, but he had a feeling this time was different. He wanted to do something to make her feel better, but knew that nothing he said or did would make her feel better. So he held her like he did all the other times.

After her tears subsided, Brooke stepped out of Jake's embrace and let out a little chuckle. "I'm sorry about your shirt," she said, referring to the tear soaked spot on his shoulder.

Jake waved her off. "Don't worry about it. You feeling any better?"

Brooke sadly shook her head. "But I'll be okay. I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick. Then, we're going to talk about how _horrible_ my dad's new girlfriendis." She left the room with the intention of going to the bathroom, but stopped in front of a picture on the wall of the hallway. Karen had an obsession with taking pictures and up and down the hallway were all the pictures she had taken.

There were pictures of her and Lucas as babies, playing together, which seemed to be the only pictures of her and Lucas together. There were plenty of pictures of her and Jake playing and posing for the camera. Informal family pictures included herself and her Mom, which made her smile at the realization that Karen, Keith, Jake and Lucas were her and her mom's family, even though there was no blood relation. She chuckled to herself as she saw a picture of Halloween seven years ago. Lucas was a pirate, Jake was a ninja and she had the best costume of all: upside down man, which was her Mom's brilliant costume idea. Her costume consisted of one of Keith's dress shirts, with her legs through the sleeve, and a pair of her jeans with a hole cut out of the crotch with her arms through the legs. She won that year, out of the whole elementary school, for best costume.

She skimmed through the pictures and realized that practically every significant moment in her life was posted on that wall: the first time she lost a tooth, the fourth grade spelling bee that she came in seventh, her middle school graduation, her first day of kindergarten, middle school, and most recently high school. The list went on and on, but there was always something, or some_one_ missing in those pictures - her dad. That realization brought on another that was quite difficult to admit: her dad didn't know her. He didn't know that she loved ice skating when from the ages of 10 to 13. He didn't know that in seventh grade for sewing class she made an apron that got her the student of the month award. He didn't know any of the little things that mattered to her. He just didn't know her.

Tears sprang to her eyes again as she admitted it to herself. She loved her dad, but was beginning to question whether or not he loved her.

"Hey," Lucas said, breaking Brooke out of her thoughts. "Taking a trip down memory lane?" He smiled at the irony of his words.

"Yeah," Brooke whispered huskily. "I guess. There aren't a lot of picture of us together, you know?"

Lucas looked at Brooke questioningly. "You ok?" he asked concerned. It wasn't like Brooke to notice Lucas, let alone notice whether or not they had many pictures together.

Brooke sadly nodded her head. She knew that if she spoke the tears would just come streaming out of her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked. He hadn't known Brooke to be much of a crier. The only time her could remember her crying was the infamous tampon incident, something they _both_ would like to forget.

Brooke smiled sadly at him, with tears shining in her eyes. "My dad has a girlfriend."

Lucas slowly nodded at Brooke's words. He didn't quite understand the reason why she was upset about it, but decided not to press the issue. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked.

Brooke shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'd better get back to Jake. He might think I'm slitting my wrists or something," she joked.

"Yeah, can't keep Jake waiting," Lucas replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. For once he wanted to be the one she went to.

"See you at dinner." Brooke turned around and walked back to Jake's room. When she got to his door, she turned and looked at Lucas retreating to his own room. Before he got inside his room, she called out to him. "You wanna come and talk about what a bitch my Dad's new girlfriend is?" she asked.

"Sure," he said and followed her into the room. They found Jake sitting on his bed with his legs stretched out reading one of his sports magazines. He didn't bother to look up at them, nor did he so much as twitch when Brooke laid on his bed with her head on his legs. Lucas took a seat on Jake's desk chair and sat in uncomfortable silence.

Lucas looked at Brooke and Jake enviously as he stroked her hair. It seemed that the action was comforting to Brooke as her facial expression softened. She was staring off in space, not paying attention to anything and Jake was concentrating on his magazine, never missing a stroke. It felt as though Lucas was interrupting something _intimate._ "So," he said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

Jake looked up from his magazine and shook his head. Lucas mouthed the word sorry and the uncomfortable silence resumed... at least to _Lucas_ it was uncomfortable. He couldn't help the jealousy surge through his body as he watched Jake comforting Brooke by not doing anything at all. He felt jealous at the unspoken bond between the two and the fact that Jake knew what she needed when he didn't. He'd never felt more like an outsider than he did at that moment.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Brooke finally spoke. "Her name's Sherry," she said. Jake put his magazine down and stopped stroking her hair.

"Is she really that bad?" Lucas asked.

Brooke took a deep breath and smiled sadly. "She's really beautiful. And she makes him smile."

Lucas, once again, found himself at a loss for words. He feared that saying the wrong thing would upset Brooke more so he nodded his head, pretending to understand the meaning behind her words.

"I'm sorry," Jake said sincerely.

"Me too," Brooke replied.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After Lorelei and Brooke had left, shortly after dinner, Lucas found himself inside Jake's room again. "So what was the deal with Brooke tonight? Did she get this freaked when Lorelei dated?"

"No. I mean, she gets protective when Lorelei dates someone new," Jake responded, his eyes never leaving the magazine he was reading earlier. "But she usually gets like this when Chris leaves after his visits."

"Really?" Lucas asked in surprise.

"Yup. It's pretty much the same routine: Brooke cries, then gets all quiet while she processes the information, then she talks about it."

"Right. Look, I wanna show you something." Lucas reached into his pocket and pulled out the charm bracelet that he had been working on and handed it to Jake. "It's for Brooke's birthday. I wanted to add another charm onto it, but I couldn't think of what else."

Jake examined the bracelet and thought Lucas did a pretty good job. "Maybe something to do with fashion." He suggested. "She's really into messing around with sketching dresses and clothes, so something to do with that."

"Thanks," Lucas said as Jake handed the bracelet back to him. "I'm thinking of telling her I'm in love with her."

Jake dropped his magazine and looked at Lucas. After a minute of staring at him, Jake shook his head. "You can't tell her."

"Why not?" Lucas asked angrily.

"Because you're not in love with her," Jake stated simply.

"I think I'd know if I was in love with her or not."

"Ok fine. What do you love about her?" Jake asked.

"Well," Lucas started. "She's a good friend, outgoing, caring,... and really nice... and she loves her family. She's perfect." He tried to think of other reasons he loved Brooke, but those were the only ones he could think of on the spot.

Jake shook his head at Lucas. "You don't know her Luke. She's not a good friend. Do you remember when she was in fifth grade she stopped being friends with Kelly and basically got everyone to stop talking to her? Yeah, she's outgoing, but remember at the beginning of the year assembly two years ago when I was going to make a speech in front of the school because I was on student government and she ran up to the podium before I could talk and started making stupid jokes because she wanted the attention? She's not caring. Christopher's happy with his new girlfriend, Brooke even admitted it. But do you _honestly_ think that Brooke cares if Chris is happy? No. She's going to continue to hate Sherry. She's not nice. Every time Lorelei dated someone new she would be horrible to the guy. Remember Andy and how she acted like a spoiled little brat to him? Sure, she may love most of her family, but what about her grandpa? Did you know that she _rarely_ talks to him? That the only reason she does talk to him is if he talks to her first? You don't know her Luke. You don't know her and you're _not_ in love with her."

"You are such a hypocrite you know that?" Lucas said furiously. "You're standing there telling me all these mean things about Brooke and yet you're her best friend. So if she's such a horrible person Jake, why are you still best friends with her?"

"Because... She's a good friend. She stopped talking to Kelly because she called Mouth a loser and embarrassed him one day. It was a little mean to make Kelly lose most of her friends, but her heart was in the right place. She only ran up to the podium last year because I was scared to talk in front of everyone and she knew that. So she ran up there because I was about to puke and took the attention off of me. She's cares about the people she loves. She hates Sherry because she knows it kills Lorelei that Chris is happy with someone else... because she knows Lorelei's still in love with him. She's not nice to everyone... but she usually is, especially if she cares about you. She was mean to Lorelei's boyfriends because she wants her parents to be together. She _does_ love her family, even her grandpa. She just scared that if she talks to him about something _other_ than school he won't love her. And she's definitely not perfect. But you didn't know any of that."

"I knew the thing about her grandpa," Lucas whispered.

"You knew one thing out of about a million things you could know about her."

"So what are you saying," Lucas asked. "That I should just never tell her how I feel?"

"No. Get to know her first, and then figure out how you feel. Because this," - he pointed to the bracelet in Lucas's hand - "will just freak her out. Trust me."

Lucas's talk with Jake left he confused. He tried to figure out what he was going to do with the bracelet. He desperately wanted to give it to Brooke and tell her how he felt, but his mind couldn't help but replay his conversation with Jake. Maybe he didn't know her and maybe he didn't love her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next three days flew by quickly and it was suddenly Friday, the day of Brooke's birthday dinner. For most of the week Brooke was busy party planning with her grandmother, which turned out to be much harder than she had anticipated. There was so much left to do, and since Brooke wanted to be involved with as much of the details as possible she usually spent the afternoons after school with her grandmother, which was a welcome distraction from thinking about her dad.

Lorelei was in the Karen's kitchen pretending to make dinner, when in reality she was there keeping Karen company while Karen made dinner, while the kids were watching TV.

"It smells good," Keith said as he walked into the kitchen and took a seat next to Lorelei at the table. "Chris coming?"

"No, Brooke said she didn't want him to come, but it's okay because he'll be at her party," Lorelei said sadly. "She's still upset about the Sherry thing."

"Ah," Keith said in understanding. "How are you doing?" He put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder.

"I'm a trooper," she replied. "He's happy. I'm happy for him."

"You'll find your happiness," Keith said and kissed her forehead.

Karen called everyone to the table to eat. Throughout dinner everyone's mind but Keith and Karen's seemed to be on something else. Lorelei's thoughts were on Christopher, Brooke's thoughts on the party and Lucas's thoughts on Brooke. Jake seemed to be detached from everyone, like he was in his own world. Dinner, which was usually full of chatter, was for once silent.

After dinner, Brooke opened presents in the living room. "This one's from Karen and I," Keith said as he handed her a small wrapped box. She unwrapped and opened the box and found a white gold necklace with a 'B' on it in cursive writing.

"Thank you Mama Roe and Papa J," she said and hugged the both of them. "I love it." She took it out of the box and put it around her neck.

"This one's from me," Jake said as he handed her his present.

"You know there's only one thing I want from you SBFF," Brooke said, playfully glaring at Jake.

Jake shook his head with a smile on his face. "Not going to happen Brooke."

"Why not?" Brooke whined. "Seriously, if I had an _amazing_ talent I would want everyone to know about it!"

"Ok, what are we talking about?" Lorelei asked while the others nodded their heads.

"I want Jake to sing for me," Brooke said. "And play the guitar."

"Uh... NO," Jake said adamantly.

"Why not?" Brooke whined. "Seriously, you have an _amazing_ voice _and_ you can play the guitar, and don't want anyone to know? What kind of crap is that?! You could sing that Waterfall song that you play so damn much."

"Waterfall?" Jake asked confused.

"You know... that one song by that British O... something band. You listen to it _all_ the time."

"_Wonderwall_? How do you get 'waterfall' from 'wonderwall'?"

"Same thing," Brooke said unconcerned. "Wonder, water, they both start with 'W'. So you gonna sing or what?"

"No. Let's just drop it. There will be no singing now or ever. Now open your gift before I take it back."

She unwrapped the present and squealed. "The first season of 'Roswell'? I love you I love you," she proclaimed as she hugged him tightly. "This is turning out to be the _best_ birthday yet!"

"I have your present at home sweetie," Lorelei said. "It's not quite finished yet."

"That's alright Mom. You didn't have to get me anything! The party's enough."

Lucas cleared his throat and handed Brooke his present. "Happy Birthday Brooke."

Brooke's heart thudded in her chest. She didn't know why she was so anxious about Lucas's gift because she knew what it was. It had to be that charm bracelet she saw in his room a couple of months ago, even though the gift in her hand was larger than a bracelet box. She felt like she needed to take deeper breaths as she unwrapped the present. To her disappointment, she found a book behind the wrapping paper. "A book," she said perplexed. "Thanks..."

"Yeah... I'm going to go to the bathroom." Lucas quickly got up from the couch and practically ran up the stairs.

If anyone found the situation with Lucas's gift odd, they didn't show it. After Lucas left for the bathroom, Karen and Lorelei cleared the living room of the wrapping paper as Keith and Jake turned the TV. Brooke sat on the couch with the book in her hand looking at it oddly. She wondered _why_ Lucas got her a book and why he didn't give her the bracelet. She wanted to confront Lucas about it so she slipped out of the living room and up the stairs to wait for him by the bathroom.

"What is this?" Brooke asked as soon as he opened the door, waving the book at him.

"It's a book, Brooke," he answered as he slipped past her into the hallway.

"I know it's a book Luke. But where's my real gift?"

"That is your gift. Didn't you read the cover?" Lucas asked. He wondered what the hell was going on with her.

"You got me a bracelet Lucas. Why didn't you give it to me?"

_Take time to realize_

_That your warmth is crashing down on in_

"What are you talking about?" He couldn't believe that Jake would tell her about the bracelet after warning him not to give it to her.

"That charm bracelet. You told me at Brandon's party that you got it for me. So why didn't you give it to me?" She asked softly.

Lucas scoffed. "Unbelievable. At Brandon's party? The party _you_ didn't remember? The party _you_ kissed _me_ at, but then _forgot_ the next day?!"

_Take time to realize that I am on your side_

_Didn't I, didn't I tell you?_

"I-I..." In her tirade to get to the bottom of the gift debacle, she'd forgotten that she lied to him about the party and her lie came back to bite her in the ass.

"You _lied_. Why? Why did you lie Brooke?" he asked angrily.

"I don't know," she said. This was turning out to be bad. _Really_ bad. Lucas was so angry with her, but she didn't know what to say.

"Fine. What would you have done if I gave you the bracelet and told you that I liked you, huh? Because that's what I was going to do. What would you have done Brooke? What would you have said?" He asked angrily.

_But I can't spell it out for you_

_No it's never gonna be that simple_

_No I can't spell it out for you_

Brooke stared at Lucas for a moment. She didn't know how to answer him, so she shrugged her shoulders.

Lucas reached into his pocket and pulled out the bracelet. "Happy birthday Brooke," he said softly as he handed it to her.

_If you just realize what I just realized_

_Then we'd be perfect for each other and we'd never find another_

_Just realize what I just realized_

_We'd never have to wonder if we missed out on each other_

"I like you Brooke. I got this for you and picked out all the charms, but I decided not to give it to you because I thought you wouldn't want it. I guess I was wrong."

_It's not the same_

_Not it's never the same_

_If you don't feel it too_

"So I got you the book instead, because I thought you'd like it," he continued. "But I was wrong again. I guess I really don't know you." Instead of going back downstairs, Lucas retreated to his room and left a saddened and confused Brooke.

Brooke stood in the hallway staring at Lucas's closed door, with the bracelet in one hand and the book in the other. She honestly didn't know what she was feeling at that moment. She wanted to cry, but couldn't. She wanted to leave, but her feet wouldn't move. She wanted to open his door and kiss him, but she was too scared to, too scared to cross that line. There was too much at stake.

For the past few months, Brooke had a feeling there was something between the two of them, but chose to ignore it. She didn't want to classify it because she didn't know what those feelings were. She didn't know if what she was feeling for Lucas was friendship because they had never really been friends, or if it went beyond friendship. So she pushed it away and hoped they would stay away.

She looked at the gifts in her hands. In one hand, she had the bracelet that meant he liked her. Or did it? Because he _was_ right. He didn't know her. So was it possible to like someone you didn't know? On the other hand, she had a book, which was a complete mystery to her, and also another sign that he didn't know her. Why would he get her a book? She was about to let the book issue go when she remembered him asking if she read the cover.

"Of Mice and Men," she read aloud. It still didn't mean anything to her. She fanned through the book and saw that it was a short little novel. Maybe he thought she'd like it because it was short. Something caught her eyes behind the front cover, so she opened it to the page.

_**Brooke,**_

_**Your grandpa said that his favorite novel growing up was 'Of Mice and Men'. Thought you'd want to read it so you'd have something to talk about. Happy Birthday.**_

_**Lucas**_

_If you would meet me halfway_

_If you would meet me halfway_

_It would be the same for you_

Tears welledin her eyes as she hugged the book to her chest. It was the best birthday gift she had ever gotten.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Song: Colbie Caillat - Realize**


	6. Chapter 5

**I come bearing a gift of ALMOST 6500 words LOL. So I know it's been years and years since I've updated this fic and I was so ready to give up on it because of the frustration I'm feeling right now with the show, and have been feeling for a few years now (BRUCASSS!), but this fic is my baby and I REALLY want to see it get finished because I have some great (or at least I think they're great LOL) ideas for this fic and the other one I've been writing. So please, but bear with me. I know how frustrating it is when a fic doesn't get done, or when authors update sporadically. I promise to try my best!**

**So I've changed the ages just a bit. Not too much though. Lucas and Jake are 17 going on 18 and Brooke's turning 16 in this part. I haven't gone back to the previous chapters and changed it, mostly because I'm lazy, but just know they are now a year older than they previously were. Not a huge jump, but for a chapter coming up, I feel better with Brooke being 16, and as annablake pointed out, they seem much too young. Hope this is better ;)**

**So thank you again for sticking with me, if you're reading this and have been waiting. This part seems heavy on the Lorelei/Emily/Christopher part, but it's all part of the plan. They play BIG roles in what's coming up. Again, thank you for reading and let me know what you think. Also, the Naley part of this fic is going to be posted sometime this weekend... hopefully...**

**Chapter 5: The Party to End All Parties **

Never in her wildest dreams did Brooke see anything more beautiful. The ballroom was elegantly decorated with a deep red and white theme. At the center of the room was a large dance floor that sat at the end of the grand staircase, which Brooke was going to be making her grand entrance through. White linen tablecloths adorned the round tables that surrounded the dance floor, each decorated with crystal vases filled with dozens of long stemmed dark red roses. The tables were set for eight, with fine white china decorated with a simple gold rim around the edge - simple yet elegant was the way Brooke had described it when picking the china out. She and her grandmother had fought long and hard over the china - Emily wanting something ostentatious - but she eventually conceded to Brooke's wishes and allowed the simple china.

Brooke stood in the middle of the dance floor twirling around slowly to see the fully decorated ballroom. She felt a little out of place in the whole setting - partially because she had curlers in her hair and was wearing an oversized bathrobe and slippers, and partially because this wasn't her. She didn't the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork, or the proper way to sit in a chair. The days leading up to the party her grandmother taught her proper etiquette in polite society, something her grandmother had vehemently stated every debutante should know. Brooke felt similar to Anne Hathaway's character in the Princess Diaries throughout the lessons, but unlike Princess Mia, Brooke had a nagging sense of unease, like she was never meant to be a part of this "society".

"Penny for your thoughts Princess?" Jake said interrupting Brooke's daze.

Brooke turned to Jake. "My thoughts are worth more than a penny Jagelski. You'd better remember that." She looked over her best friend, who was looking devastatingly handsome in his dark suit. "You're looking nice Jake. And you cut your hair!"

Jake touched his now shorter hair. "Yup, did it all for you. And you're looking," he paused as gave her a once over. "You're not wearing_ that _are you?"

Brooke laughed. "No. My mom and grandma kind of started fighting again so the hairdresser let me slip out of the room."

"What were they fighting about?" Jake asked.

"I dunno. It was bound to happen though. They can't go one hour without arguing."

There was an awkward pause between the two, something that had never happened before. They could usually be around each other and not talk for long periods of time without the awkward feeling so this was new territory to Brooke. Jake was looking at her like he wanted to tell her something important, and if she was honest with herself; it kind of made her uncomfortable.

"What?" She asked cautiously.

Jake took a deep breath. "I'm… in," he stuttered to get the words out. "Dance!"

"Was that even English?" Brooke joked hoping to lighten the mood.

"Um… I mean I'm _wanting_ you to save me a dance?" He said questioningly.

"Ooookay. Any song in particular?"

"You'll know it when you hear it."

"A surprise? You wouldn't happen to be singing it would you?" Brooke asked.

Jake chuckled. She was a determined one and recently she was determined to get him to sing her a song. "That would be a no. No today, no tomorrow, and no every other time you're going to ask me."

Brooke pouted. "You're no fun. But I've got to get back upstairs and transform from this," she gestured towards her current ensemble, "to the most beautiful girl you'll ever see. How do you think I should have my hair done? Up or down?"

Jake pondered the question a moment. Who was he kidding? He didn't know anything about hair, nor did he care to know anything about it. "Up."

"Up it is," she said and literally flounced out of the room.

Jake watched her leave and sighed. This was going to be the hardest thing he's ever done.

* * *

On the elevator ride to the 23rd floor penthouse suite her grandparents insisted on renting, along with practically the dozen of other rooms for various people, including the Jagelski's and the McFadden's, she realized that Lucas must have been at the hotel as well.

She hadn't seen or talked to Lucas since the night before and she wasn't sure if he was still going to "escort" her to the party. She quickly pushed the 22 button to go look for Lucas. She had to know if he was still going to escort her to the party… for her grandmother. Because her grandma had to know right away of any changes in the program. Not that anyone knew Lucas was escorting Brooke, but she knew. And her grandma would probably have a heart attack if she knew that Lucas was going to back out.

Oh who was she kidding? She wasn't going up to Lucas's room to find out for her grandmother; she was going to find out for herself. Because _she_ asked Lucas to be her date tonight. And _she _wanted to know if he still wanted to be her date. She wanted to know for her… not for her grandmother.

The elevator doors opened and she found Mouth on the other side.

"Brooke!" Mouth said in surprise. "You're not ready."

"The party's not for another two hours. Trust me, I have plenty of time."

"So what are you doing here? Didn't you get the penthouse suite?"

"Yeah. I was just coming up from the ballroom. I'm looking for -," Brooke paused. She could have easily said Jake, Karen, Keith, or anyone else, but she decided to go with the truth. "I'm looking for Lucas." Brooke held her breath as she waited for Mouth's reaction, positive that he knew about what happened between her and Lucas last night and would want to grill her about why she wanted to talk to Lucas.

"Oh," he replied nonchalantly. "Well, he's in room 2209."

"That's it?" Brooke asked.

"The door's locked?" Mouth offered confusedly.

"Okay," Brooke said slowly nodding. "So I'm going to talk to Lucas… alone. For the first time since last night."

"Alright," Mouth said, his brows furrowing in confusing at Brooke's odd behavior. "And I'm going to find Jake and talk to him… alone. For the first time since Chemistry on Friday." Mouth looked at Brooke questioningly. "You alright Brooke? Inhale too much hair spray fumes?"

Brooke chuckled. "I'm fine. Just worried about the party. Speaking of hair, how do you think I should do my hair? Up or down?"

"Well you should definitely go with - I don't care how you do your hair Brooke!" Mouth joked, because he really didn't. Up, down, it all looked the same to him. "I'm gonna go find Jake. See you later."

"Bye Mouth. Thanks for being no help at all," she called out before the elevator doors closed.

2205, 2207, and finally 2209. Brooke knocked on the door quickly before she came to her senses and turned around.

"Brooke!" Lucas said surprised. "What are you doing here? And why aren't you dressed?"

"Two hours. I have _two_ hours left alright!" Brooke replied agitatedly. "That is plenty of time for me to get dressed. I wish everyone would stop asking me that!"

"Everyone?" Lucas asked stepping aside to let her in.

"Well, Jake, Mouth… and now you. That's pretty much everyone." Brooke stepped through the door and sat on one of the beds. "So…"

"So…" Lucas said fidgeting with his tie. His dad always tied his ties for him, not that there had been many occasions that called for a tie in the first place.

Brooke stood up. "Let me."

As Brooke went to work on Lucas's tie he thought for sure she would feel his heart pounding through his chest. "Where… um… did you learn to tie a tie?" He asked.

Brooke paused and looked up at him. "Your dad taught me," she said with a smile. She went back to fixing his tie and continued, "I wanted to learn for my dad." _So maybe he would want to stay,_ she thought, not voicing it aloud. She stepped back from Lucas to admire her handy work. "All done."

Lucas let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding in. "Thanks," he whispered. "So… was there something you wanted?"

"Oh, right. Um… I'm taking a poll of sorts," Brooke lied. "How do you think I should do my hair? Up or down?"

"Your hair?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah. Hair…"

"Down. It always looks really nice down."

"Okay," Brooke said edging towards the door. "Thanks." Before she reached the door she stopped and turned to Lucas. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Last night. I'm sorry about being a bitch to you about the book. I really loved the book… and the bracelet. They were both really great gifts Lucas."

"You're welcome," Lucas replied sounding angrier than he intended. He didn't want to talk about last night. Actually, he would prefer to forget last night ever happened.

"And the other thing…"

"We can just forget about the other thing. It's not a big deal."

"Yes it is Lucas. Okay. It's a big deal… It's a big deal to _me_," Brooke said. "You said you liked me."

"Yeah, and you said _nothing._ So what else is there to say?"

"You didn't give me a chance to say anything! You walked away before I _could_ say anything!"

"Then what would you have said?" Lucas asked in a raised voice.

"I…" Brooke began but didn't know what to say. "It's not that simple Lucas,"

"Actually, it's pretty damn simple Brooke. You either like me or you don't. So which is it?"

"I…" Brooke paused and shook her head. "I can't Lucas. I can't."

Lucas stared at her for a moment, his mind screaming at him to tell her to stop lying. _Something_ was telling him that she way lying to herself, and to him. "Okay," he said instead.

"Okay?" Brooke said questioningly. "That's it?"

"What do you want me to say? You want me to beg you to like me?" He spat out angrily.

"Lucas -"

"Just stop Brooke. Stop acting like I'm the first person in history to like someone who doesn't feel the same."

"Okay," Brooke conceded not wanting to push him any further. "Believe it or not I didn't come here to argue with you."

"Right. You wanted my input on your hair," he mocked angrily.

"No," Brooke whispered. "I wanted to know if you were still my date tonight."

"Of course I am. I promised your _grandma_ I would," Lucas said. He wanted to hurt her, he really truly did, which is why he didn't mention that he also promised her. But the moment the he saw Brooke's reaction, he regretted them.

Brooke's face fell at Lucas's words. They hurt… more than she thought they would. More than she cared to admit. "Right… My grandma. Who's probably waiting for me to go get ready. I gotta go." Without so much as glancing his way, she left.

"Damn it," Lucas cursed to the empty room.

* * *

"Mom, calm down. This isn't a big deal."

"Not a big deal? Of course it's not a big deal to you Lorelei, but this is a _very_ big deal! I requested 126 filet mignon entrees months ago, I paid good money for them and what do I get in return? This…. disaster!"

"Yes, Mom, _this_ is a disaster. This is right up there with, oh, say the Titanic and Pearl Harbor on the disaster scale."

"You're not funny Lorelei," Emily said glaring at Lorelei.

"I'm no Lucy, but I think I can hold my own."

"I am just trying to make everything for Brooke's birthday perfect. Is that so wrong of me Lorelei? Is that something to mock?"

"No Mom. I think it's really great that you're doing this and I am eternally grateful to you and dad for this party, but getting worked up over cuts of meat is just... stupid."

"Stupid?" Emily asked. "You think it's stupid to pay for a service or certain item and not receive said service or item?"

Lorelei laughed nervously knowing that saying the wrong thing now would begin another half and hour fight with her mother. "No. I think it's perfectly understandable. I just think that there's a solution to this problem and if we would both just calm down we could find it."

"The problem has already been resolved Lorelei," Emily responded flippantly. "The hotel called four different butchers to find the rest of the filets."

"Um… WHAT?" Lorelei practically yelled.

"Calm down Lorelei."

"Calm down?" Lorelei asked in disbelief. "You just spent the last twenty minutes arguing with me about filet mignon… for no reason."

"I was not arguing with you Lorelei. I was simply expressing my anger at the situation."

"You _were_ argu -," Lorelei paused and shook her head at her mom. "No. You're not going to suck me into another non-argument argument. I'm going to find Brooke."

Lorelei left the living room in search of Brooke who was supposed to be in one of the bedrooms getting her hair and make-up done. "Where's Brooke?" Lorelei asked Robert, the man in charge of Brooke's hair and make-up.

"She's… she's uh-"

"Right here," Brooke said from the doorway. "What's up Mom?"

Lorelei sighed not wanted to burden Brooke with Emily's crazy antics. "Nothing important. Where were you?"

"Just went to take a look at the ballroom. Pretty dress," Brooke said taking in her Mom's dress. It was a beautiful A-line black strapless dress with a large white stripe under the breasts.

Lorelei twirled to show Brooke the whole dress. "I know. My stylist picked it out. Good taste huh?" Lorelei said winking.

"I told you I wouldn't steer you wrong. Now you need to leave because I have to get ready and you can't see me until I enter my ballroom."

Lorelei sighed mockingly. "Alright. I'll go third wheel it with Keith and Karen." Lorelei pecked Brooke on the cheek and shut the door on her way out.

"So," Robert began. "Have we decided if we want an up-do, or a down-do?"

"Up," Brooke said taking a seat on the chair placed in front of a large mirror.

"Up it is," Robert said taking the jumbo curlers out of Brooke's hair.

"Or down?"

"Okay. Down then."

"How do you think I should do my hair?" Brooke asked looking at Robert through the mirror.

"I think… Maybe half up and half down? The best of both worlds."

Brooke smiled and spun in her chair to face him. "The best of both worlds huh? Sounds great but I don't think that's possible."

Robert winked at her and spun her back around. "In the world of hair darling, _anything's_ possible."

* * *

Brooke stared at herself in the mirror, thankful for a moment's peace. Her hair was curled with the top half clipped lowly on her head. Her small diamond tiara was secured at the top of her head.

The dress she was wearing was her second favorite she would be wearing throughout the night. It was a white ballroom gown with a fitted bodice and a full skirt. Her mom joked that the skirt was so full tulle that she'd probably get lost in it. The bodice of the dress was designed with a flowery pattern and encrusted with jewels. She felt like Cinderella going to the ball. All that was missing was her Prince Charming.

"You clean up nicely," Jake said from the doorway behind her.

"Jaaaake," Brooke whined. "No one's supposed to see me before I enter the ballroom."

"Is that a rule or something?"

"No… But I wanted to make a grand entrance."

"You'll still make a grand entrance Brooke. Besides, I wanted to be the first one to see you. I'm selfish like that." Brooke continued to pout, so Jake added, "If it'll make you feel better I'll pretend to have my breath taken away when you make your grand entrance."

Brooke smiled. "'Kay!"

"Brooke," Jake began.

"Yeah?" Brooke made her way towards Jake smiling. "What's on your mind?"

Jake shook his head and smiled sadly. "Nothing important. You're just really are beautiful you know?"

Brooke blushed at the compliment. "Thanks Jakey," she replied affectionately. "Now we've got to go before my grandma blows a gasket."

As they made their way down to the ballroom Brooke wondered what was on Jake's mind. This was the second time they've talked that she had a feeling that Jake was keeping something from her. And since they've always been open and honest with each other, that something must have been pretty big.

"Jake?" Brooke said as they entered the elevator. "I know there's something on your mind because you've tried to tell me something two times now and you chickened out both those times. If you're not ready to tell me now it's okay… but just promise me you're going to tell me… whenever you're ready."

Jake took Brooke's face in his hands and kissed her nose. "Sometimes it scares the shit out of me how well you know me. I promise I'll tell you… but for tonight… let's just forget about it and have a good time okay?"

The elevator chimed and the doors slid opened. "Okay," Brooke agreed.

"Remember to save a dance for me," he said as he left the elevator.

"This is beginning to sound strangely similar to a debutant ball Emily," Brooke heard her dad say down the hall.

"Christopher I know it has been awhile since you've participated in or attended a debutante ball, but I would think you'd remember that debutante balls are generally intended for a _group_ of young women and not just one."

"Brooke!" Christopher said surprised to see Brooke in front of him and Emily.

"Hi Grandma. Dad… what are you doing here? And where's Lucas?" Brooke asked turning her head to try and find him.

"Oh dear. There's been a change of plans. Lucas will still be your escort, but your father here decided he wanted to make his grand entrance with you," Emily lied. "Lucas is-"

"Waiting at the end of the staircase to escort her to her seat?" Christopher offered, remembering his and Lorelei's debutante ball.

Emily ignored Christopher's remark and turned to Brooke. "You look wonderful dear. Your hair and make-up are divine and that dress looks marvelous." She gave Brooke a kiss on the cheek and made her way to the other entrance. "It seems your father knows _exactly_ what to do so I'll make my way inside."

Emily left and Brooke turned to her father. "Okay, what was that about Dad?"

Christopher sighed heavily. "That was your grandmother being… your grandmother. Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"

"No you haven't."

"Well, you do," Christopher said taking her hand and leading her to the entrance. "Brooke… about Sherry."

"Do we have to talk about this now Dad?" Brooke pleaded.

"I just want you to know that no matter who I date, where I am, whatever I'm doing that I love you. You are and will always be the most important person in my life and I love you more than anything."

_So why aren't you with mom and me?_ Brooke thought. "I know Dad."

"Are you ready for the fireworks?"

"There's going to be fireworks?" Brooke asked.

"Oh, there are definitely going to be fireworks."

* * *

_Presenting Brooke Penelope Davis, entering with her father, Christopher Hayden, and escorted by Lucas Eugene Jagelski._

Lucas winced as they announced his middle name. He was sure Brooke was probably wincing at the sound of her own middle name as well. The ballroom doors opened and all thoughts of middle names, last night and the other 200 people in the room left his mind. He looked at Brooke nervously walk down the stairs and he felt the wind literally knock out of him… in the best way possible. She looked every bit the Princess she thought she was.

It wasn't because her hair and make up were done to perfection, or that her gorgeous dress looked like it was made just for her, and on anyone else would look inadequate. No, it was because of the look in her eyes - the happiness, fear, and unease. She looked like she belonged; yet her eyes told a different story. Something about the look in her eyes told Lucas that Brooke would rather have been at one of Lorelei's crazy birthday parties, that usually ended up with the police shutting them down due to the noise. She looked vulnerable, but to him, she never looked more beautiful.

When Brooke reached Lucas she looped her arm through his as he led her to the center of the dance floor. He placed one hand on her waist and held out the other.

"What are we doing?" Brooke asked with trepidation evident in her voice.

"Ballroom dancing," Lucas whispered as he waited for the song to come on.

"I don't know _how _to ballroom dance!"

"Just follow my lead."

After what Brooke deemed the _worst _dance experience of her life, her grandmother quickly whisked her away from Lucas.

"That could have been worse," Emily stated as she began ushering Brooke through the throngs of people and circulating hor d'oeuvres. "At least Lucas had some ballroom dance practice."

Brooke groaned. "Grandma I looked ridiculous!" And she really did. She tried following Lucas's lead like he told her, but her feet spent more time on Lucas's toes than they did on the dance floor.

"Now, now Brooke. It was... fine. There are some people I would like you to meet now."

"People?" Brooke asked. "What people?"

"Just some old friends of mine and your grandfather's. There's the dean of Yale, admissions officers from Stanford, Harvard and Dartmouth. Some important people from some of the UC's, but we can meet with them later... if we get to them."

"Colleges?" Brooke asked.

"Yes dear. These are very important people that you should be aware of, and who should be aware of you."

"I'm just a freshman in high school, Grandma. College is the farthest thing on my mind right now."

Emily stopped at one corner of the ballroom, which wasn't as crowded as the rest of the room and turned to Brooke. "You don't think about your future?" she asked.

"I do...

"And?"

"And I think I want to be a fashion designer. You know... cuz everyone wear clothes... so it'd kinda be like a... service... to the world..."

"A fashion designer?" Emily repeated. Brooke nodded her head in affirmation and Emily continued, "So you would want to design clothes for Chanel? Louis Vuitton?"

"Um... no... maybe... but I was kinda thinking about starting my own fashion line... for my own label. That sorta thing."

Emily started to nod approvingly. "Yes. Your own company. For that you would need a business degree. We could just forget about the fashion aspect and go with business." Emily once again grabbed Brooke's hand and began walking.

"Wait Grandma."

Emily stopped again and turned to regard Brooke. "Yes dear?"

"I just don't think that Harvard, Yale, or any of those schools are going to be interested in me."

"Nonsense Brooke. You're a Davis for heaven's sake. Yale is your grandfather's alumni and mine. Your other grandparents both we to Stanford. You are practically guaranteed a spot at either of those schools."

"I'm just not the greatest student you know?"

Emily sighed. "I wouldn't know actually. Because your mother has failed to inform us once again of anything pertaining to you and your life. You attend public school correct?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to have to talk to your mother about that."

"You're going to have to talk to me about what?" Lorelei said as she approached the two. She had been looking through the ridiculously large ballroom for Emily since Brooke walked down the staircase. "Speaking of, you and me need to talk right now," Lorelei said pointedly to Emily.

"Lorelei can this wait? Brooke and I have much more important things to do right now."

"Actually Grandma, it sounds important what Mom has to talk to you about. I can just go hang out with Jake or something," Brooke said trying to get out of talks about her 'future'.

"This is important Brooke. This is about your future."

"Her future?" Lorelei exclaimed.

"Yes Lorelei. _I _am concerned about her future."

"Let me guess," Lorelei said, irritation in her voice. "Yale, Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth?"

One of the waiters interrupted what would have broken out into a Emily-Lorelei fight. "Mrs. Davis? Dinner will be served in five minutes. I was told to find you to tell you that."

Emily nodded in understanding. "Thank you."

"Time to go change Brooke."

"Oh. I thought I was going to wear this dress a little longer."

"No, the white dress is for you to be presented in. There's another dress for you to eat in, because ya can't eat in a white dress. Then there's the last dress for the rest of the night. Did I get that right Mom? I might have missed a few things since it _has_ been awhile since I've been to a debutante- I mean _birthday_ party."

Emily seemed to pay no attention to the sarcastic tone of Lorelei's comment and whisked Brooke out of the ballroom. Lorelei shook her head at her mother and sighed.

"Looks like you need this," Christopher said handing Lorelei a martini.

"You are a God among men Christopher Hayden. I want to worship you forever and bear your children... I guess I can cross out one of those things. "

"The worshiping forever thing? Yeah, I have that effect on many women," Chris replied. "I saw you and Emily duke it out. I figured now's a good time as any for hard liquor."

"We weren't duking it out. We haven't even _begun_ to duke it out. Did you know?" Lorelei asked.

"No," Chris replied honestly. "But I did figure it out when I was standing outside to escort Brooke into the room."

"She is unbelievable."

"Now hold on Lore, she's not as bad as you think."

"Not as bad as I think? She deliberately went behind my back and planned this debutant ball type thing under the guise of a birthday party! So yeah, she is _that_ bad!"

"This party didn't hurt anyone... other than piss you off. And Brooke's having a great time."

"She doesn't want this," Lorelei said sadly. "This isn't Brooke."

"How do you know? Because _you _didn't want one?" Chris said trying to lighted the mood but failed. "Look no one can really know _who_ Brooke is until Brooke does. She just turned 16. No one knows what they want at 16... or who they are."

"So where's Sherry?" She asked changing the subject.

Chris sensed Emily's actions tonight were a sensitive subject for Lorelei so he let it go. "She decided not to come."

"Oh Chris, I hope she didn't stay away because of Brooke."

"No... well, I guess she kind of did. I really want to thank you though."

"For what?" Lorelei asked.

"For what you said to Sherry," Chris explained. "It really meant a lot to me. And I know it meant a lot to Sherry."

"It was nothing. She really is a great person Chris. And I can tell you're happy."

* * *

"Hurry up Brooke," Emily scolded as she dragged Brooke through the hall to the room. "We must get you changed and into you other dress before dinner is served."

"Slow down Grandma. You're kind of hurting me."

"There's no time to slow down Brooke. You have to get changed and go eat. Then you have to get changed again and mingle. We still need to meet with those people I was telling you about."

"Wait Grandma," Brooke said as she pulled her arm from her grasp. "I don't need to change. I like this dress. It's pretty."

Emily gasped in outrage. "Of course you need to change Brooke! We bought three dresses specifically for this occasion. You cannot turn your back on your responsibilities!"

"Grandma, it's okay," Brooke said trying to calm her grandmother down. She had never seen her act like this. "There are still tags on the dresses. We can just return them if it's about the money."

"It is not about the money Brooke. This is about your responsibility to your family. We threw this party for you. We spent countless hours with planners, and caterers, and designers to try and make this party perfect, and this is how you repay us?"

"Grandma,"

"No Brooke. You have _always_ been this way. You have _always _been selfish. How could you not realize what you did? How could you realize how much you hurt us? How could you not care?" Emily covered her mouth with her hand at the realization that she wasn't talking to Lorelei, but Brooke.

"I'm sorry," Brooke whispered through her tears. She knew that her grandma wasn't talking about her, but her mom, and it didn't hurt any less. _She _was the reason they were on such bad terms. Her existence was the reason her grandparents were so hurt. "I'm sorry."

Emily pulled Brooke into her arms as tears fell down her own face. "No. Do _not_ be sorry. _I'm_ sorry. This is not about you."

"But I'm the reason you and Grandpa don't get along with Mom. I'm the reason that everything is so…"

"You are _not _the reason young lady," Emily stated as she cradled Brooke's face in her hands. "There were problems between all of us long before you were born. We love you Brooke. We just want you to be happy, and if you want to wear that dress then go. Have fun at your party."

Brooke smiled and hugged her grandmother. "Thank you grandma."

Emily made her way into the suite with a heavy heart. She never meant to take her frustrations out on Brooke, but this party just reminded her so much of when Lorelei was this age. Of how rebellious she was and how much she wanted to leave, and eventually did.

"You have some nerve," Lorelei said as she stormed into the suite. "You really didn't think that I would notice this is something of a debutante ball. I told you she didn't want this. You should have known better!"

"I should have _known?_" Emily spat out bitterly. "Because I've been such a big part of her life Lorelei."

"You have been Mom. You and Dad have always been a part of her life."

"No we haven't Lorelei! We have not been apart of that girl's life, you made sure of that."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lorelei asked outraged. Her mother was acting as though she intentionally kept Brooke away from them. They _were_ apart of her life, just not the way she knew Emily wanted – to control her and Brooke.

"Do you realize what you did Lorelei? You _ran_ away. A 17-year-old girl with a _baby_. Do you realize how selfish that is?"

"I had to leave Mom. You and dad, and this whole _life_ was suffocating me. I was dying!"

"You _could _have died Lorelei! You had no money, no place to live. What were you thinking?"

"Mom," Lorelei said in a calmer voice. "Please."

"Please what Lorelei?" Emily asked through tears. "Do you understand the hell you put me through? What you put your father and I through."

"Well I'm sorry that I was never the kind of child you could go bragging to your country club about."

"I hope you never understand the terror of finding your only child, your only _grandchild_, gone with only a note. No phone number, no address, just a note. Do you understand the awful scenarios that went through my head? I hope you never understand the hell you put us through."

"Mom," Lorelei whispered sympathetically. She didn't understand and to be honest, she never could. She hoped beyond reason that Brooke was smarter than she had been, smarter than to leave with no resources with a baby.

"Did you think about anyone but yourself? Did you think about us at all?"

* * *

"Ah there you are Brooke. You missed dinner, but would you care to dance with your grandfather?" Richard asked.

"I'd love to grandpa."

Richard led Brooke to the dance floor and guided her to the beat of the music. "So, how is your night so far?"

Brooke smiled her dimpled smile. "It's been everything I've hoped for and more."

"Good, good," he replied. "Your grandmother has been worrying about this party for months trying to make it perfect. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying yourself."

They swayed in awkward silence before Brooke spoke again. "A friend of mine got me a great book for my birthday. 'Of Mice and Men'."

"That's wonderful my dear," Richard beamed. "I think you will enjoy it. It's been one of my favorites since I was a young boy. Have you started reading it?"

"No, I haven't had the time," Brooke said disappointedly, worried that she lost her chance to connect with her grandfather.

"I have an idea, why don't we read it together. Why, it's been so long since I've dusted off my copy. We can discuss each chapter."

"Really?"

"Really," Richard replied with a smile.

"A martini please," Lorelei said to the bartender. There was nothing like a good cocktail after dealing with her mother.

"You may want to slow down," Christopher said as he placed his order. "You don't want to make a scene."

"I've already made my scene. Emily and I had it out in the penthouse."

Christopher grimaced. "Well, at least you had the good sense to do it in private."

"Yeah," Lorelei scoffed. "Let me ask you something. What did you think when you heard that I ran with Brooke."

"Lore, I really don't remember," Chris said evasively.

"You don't remember?" Lorelei asked in disbelief. "Chris, I took your daughter away, and the week before you proposed and you don't remember?"

"What does it matter now? We're in a good place."

"So we weren't in a good place before?" Lorelei asked.

"You're twisting my words! Why does it even matter now? We're past it."

"Just tell me," Lorelei pleaded.

"I hated you, okay!" Chris exclaimed. "I hated that you left, I hated that you took her away, but mostly… mostly I hated that you left _me_. I hated that you didn't want me with you."

"Chris – " Lorelei said, but was too late. Chris had already left her behind.

"You wanna dance?" Lucas asked a bored Brooke.

Brooke smiled as she accepted his hand as he led her to the dance floor.

As Lucas took her hand he noticed the charm bracelet on her wrist that he didn't notice previously. "I'm sorry-," they said at the same time.

"Ladies first," Lucas offered as they swayed to the music.

"I'm sorry about being such a jerk about your gift. I loved it... them. _Both _of them."

"I'm glad," Lucas said with a smile.

* * *

"You okay Lorelei," Jake asked as he sat down next to her.

"What gave me away, the scowl on my face?" she said trying to make a joke.

"I think it was the 3rd drink you've had," Jake replied.

"I'm building up my tolerance, kid. I've had a crappy day, week, year, life," she replied self deprecatingly.

Jake glanced at his best friend and brother as they danced, looking carefree and happy. "Got room for another?"

"What's wrong?"

Jake sadly turned from the dancing duo and stared at Lorelei. "I have to tell you something."

Lorelei sobered at the serious tone in his voice. "Jake you can tell me anything," she said as she placed a comforting hand on his arm.

As Jake leaned over to divulge his secret to Lorelei, her eyes widened in sadness as she heard his confession. Jake dropped his head as he tried to hold his tears in. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Lorelei said through her tears. "This is _not_ your fault. You couldn't help it."

"What am I going to do?" Jake asked as the tears he'd been keeping inside for the past week came rushing out. "What am I going to do?"

Lorelei pulled Jake into a hug and cried with him. Here eyes once again going towards Brooke and Lucas as they reached Karen and Keith's table. This was going to _destroy_ them, she thought to herself. "You have to tell them."

**Oooooh, Jake has a secret. any guesses as to what it is?**


End file.
